AMHERST BELT LINES
	HO Modular Railroad

July, 1998

Copyright © 1998, Amherst Railway Society

Well, the monsoons are gone and summer's finally here. It's time for us fair weather rail fans to dust off our cameras and get trackside.

Another fun way to experience railroading, history, and even get your wife or significant other to join you is a trip to a trolley museum. There's three excellent museums in New England: The Connecticut Electric Railway in East Windsor, the Branford (CT) Trolley Museum (though that may not be the correct name), and the grand-daddy of them all, the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.

If your looking for some modeling work to do, we have several pieces of rolling stock still in kit form. If you'd like to build these up for the club, please let us know. We could use more freight on the RR. It looked pretty empty in W. Springfield this year.

In The News

If you are e-mail enabled, you've probably heard the bad news: the Dry Hill Terminal Railroad has petitioned the ICC for abandonment of Dry Hill Yard! For those who don't recognize the name, Dry Hill Yard is the operating hump yard and engine terminal which, when assembled, is over 1 scale mile long! The Dry Hill gang has deemed the effort involved vs. only one place (also read as only two days/year) to set up the yard is just not worth it. Another factor in the abandonment is the layout planned for the cellar where the modules are stored. They realize that destroying such a project is wrong so, in an effort to save their work, they are offering the entire yard for sale. The asking price is $4000.00 and, as I understand, it is somewhat negotiable. While we're interested in keeping this module set in the show, the Belt Lines is unable to purchase the module set due to cost, storage, and transportation issues. If you're interested in acquiring this impressive module set, contact Alan.

I also understand that the eight foot module formerly known as "Pine Hill" is also available for purchase. Numbers in the $500 range have been mentioned. Again, contact Alan.

Schedule

We've, once again, accepted the invitation to participate in the Pepperell Siding Model RR Club's annual show. This year the show will be held on Sunday, October 18 from 10 am to 4 p.m. with setup on Saturday (I think). The show is held at the North Middlesex Regional High School on Route 119 in Townsend, MA and admission is $3 for adults. If you want to include your module in the show, let Alan know ASAP. We have limited space in this show so, first come first served. Also let Alan know if you'd like to attend this show as just an ABEL crewman as we must supply a crew list to the show manager. I don't have a date yet but we're usually invited to the Bedford Boomers' show each November. The show is held at the McKelvie Middle School in Bedford, NH.

In Other News

Car Type of the Month

The 'standard' boxcar is designated as XM where 'X' denotes a generic boxcar and 'M' designates side or side and end doors.

Reminder

If you didn't receive this newsletter via e-mail then it's safe to say I have not yet received your address. For those who have internet access only at work where personal e-mail might not be allowed, free e-mail is available and accessible from the web. You can check out mail.yahoo.com, www.hotmail.com, or www.juno.com if you'd like to setup an account.

Until next time, remember:

Tom LaRoche