Amherst Railway Society
September 16, 2008
Meeting Announcement

Welcome to the 2008 - 2009 season of the Amherst Railway Society. The first meeting will be Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 8:00 p.m. at the Amherst Middle School.

Click on picture for larger view
and distribution license.

QJ Steam in the United States
by Bob McLaughlin

Mr. McLaughlin will be presenting a show about Chinese 2-10-2 QJ Locomotives in the United States. He lives in Dedham, MA and presented the Norfolk and Western Steam program for us last year.

At our June 17 business meeting, we elected the following people: Sudro Brown, President; Ira Laby, Vice-President; Bruce MacCullagh, Clerk; and Alan Rice, Peter Veneman and Joe Albano, Jr. Directors At Large. We also voted the 2008 grants, and there are several thank you letters from the recipients that can be found at the bottom of this page.

If you received a yellow slip in your envelope, you are technically no longer a member. You must renew to continue to receive newsletters and a show pass to the 2009 Railroad Hobby Show.

Please note that the January 2008 meeting will be Tuesday, Jan 20, 2009. Setup for the show begins two days later.

Railroad Hobby Show January 24 and 25, 2009

TRIP COMMITTEE NEWS

In the envelope with your September newsletter, you will find a flyer for the P&W Circle Tour sponsored by the MBRRE. ARS members are being offered the MBRRE member price. Your ARS trip committee will provide a bus from Hadley to Worcester for that trip. The bus ride will be in addition to the enclosed flyer for the MassBay trip .

November 1, 2008: Danbury Railroad museum will be running a Danbury to Kent rare mileage trip 10 AM to 4 PM. Cost is $50 per person, contact Danbury Museum for tickets: 203-778-8337 during business hours, or see their website: www.Danbury.org/drm/fallexcur08.htm

Morristown and Erie Railway has periodic rail trips and has charters available.

EMD FL9 at the Croton-on-Harmon shops
Photo by Wayne Koch

One trip in October will be NYC-Penn station to Montreal weekend. M&E also operates the Maine Eastern lines. Contact them directly at 973-267-4300 or Charter services@merail.com, or see their website: www.merail.com

Metro-North Railroad has announced the date of its annual Open House at the former NYC Harmon Shops at Croton-Harmon NY...Saturday October 11, 2008 from 10AM-3PM. http://mta.info/mnr/index.html click on 'Open House' on right side after opening link

Volunteers needed:

The Amherst Railway Society is a non-profit and all volunteer organization. Things happen because you make them happen. Volunteers are needed for :

Audio Visual
(no one is doing this at this time)

Set up the sound system and projectors at meetings.
transport sound system and projectors to and from meetings

WE NEED SOMEONE FOR THE SEPTEMBER MEETING!!

Library Committee
(see Rudy Versailles)

help with distribution of materials at meetings
transporting materials to and from meetings
cataloging new materials
thinning the collection

Company Store
(see Clark Huber)

decide on merchandise to carry in store
manage and store inventory
sell merchandise at meetings and annual show
transport merchandise to and from meetings and show

Trip Committee (see Phil Johnson)

organize trips to prototype sites
organize trips to modeling sites
organize trips to historical sites
work with other organizations to cosponsor events

January Railroad Hobby Show
(see Doug Moore)

assist with the Belt Lines layout
floor managers
other positions as needed

Just a reminder that the Amherst Railroad Society, Inc is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization (IRS 501(c)(3) corporation); this means that you may make charitable donations to the ARS and make a deduction from your Federal income tax, provided that you itemize your deductions. We will provide you with a letter/receipt that provides justification for your donation of either cash and/or merchandise. Your membership contribution is not tax deductible as you do get a value in return for your membership fee.

If any questions, please contact David Royce, Treasurer and/or Sudro Brown, President.

From the AMHERST BELT LINES…

Pepperell Siding Model Railroad Club Show

The Belt Lines will be starting the fall show season with the Pepperell Siding Model Railroad Club’s annual Model Railroad Show and Open House in Pepperell, MA. The show is Sunday, October 5, 2008 from 10AM to 4PM at the Varnum Brook Middle School, 10 Hollis Street, Pepperell. Setup will start on Saturday around 10AM. Check out their web site at www.psmrc.org for more information. Come on up to the show and support a terrific organization!

If you are interested in attending the show with the Belt Lines, please let Clark, Sudro or Alan know right away so that we can make the appropriate arrangements.

DCC News

Do you have a NCE cab that is used by the Belt Lines during shows? Starting immediately, any NCE cab that is used by the Belt Lines must be re-registered prior to use on the layout to avoid conflicts with the new NCE radio cabs. Bring your equipment to the show (any show we are attending will do!) so that Sudro can perform his magic!

Oct 05, 2008, Pepperell Siding MRRC, Pepperell, MA
Nov 02, 2008, Bedford Boomers, Bedford, NH
Dec 06 - 07, 2008, NMRA Hub Div, Marlboro, MA
Jan 24 - 25, 2009 Amherst Railway Society, West Springfield, MA

Message from the Show Director:

As I write this, the Show is still 5 months off. It certainly seems like a long time but we are well into the process.

We will once again have the 4th building, the Mallary North Complex. It will be the precursor to the entire building in years to come…more about that later! Once again, we will have some new and surprising vendors added to the venue. Stay tuned and watch for these interesting changes.

With regard to logistics, contracts are out the door to our many vendors and participants to the show (this year 3 weeks earlier than our deadline of September 1st) and we have already heard back from many of them. It has become easier each year thanks to the fact that the entire process is now automated.

Speaking of automation, we have changed the badge printing policy this year. New to the 2009 show is the printing of the actual names of our vendors on their individual badges. We feel the show will be even more friendly and personable if you can call someone by their name. So watch for those details if you are a participant as a vendor, NFP or a display layout. It’s a bit more work for us, but we feel the return will be worth it.

Admission price will be in a holding pattern for the next few years, we are happy to report. We have received many compliments for raising the “kids under” age, as many feel as we do – the future of the hobby is with the children (the age was raised to “15 and under” for getting in free when accompanied by an adult).

As we get close to the show date, we will report to you any new vendors and any other new and exciting ideas that will be happening for 2009. You will not want to miss some of the latest changes and additions to the show.

Stay tuned!!!

John Sacerdote, Show Director

We have received the following thank-you letters from organizations that have received 2008 ARS grants.