News
Club Meeting of 2024 June 20
Shannondell Model Railroad Club (SMRC) held its monthly meeting. The meeting was called to order by President Jim Rush at 2:00 p.m.
The Minutes of the May 18 Meeting (Secretary Bob Watson) were approved as submitted.
The Treasurer’s Reports (Treasurer Bruce Wintersteen) for May were accepted without modification. The SMRC Bank Account balance was $2,836.09 at 2024 May 31.
The Club now has 50 members and 50 Friends (the numbers change as people continue to renew or join the Club).
Bruce Wintersteen reported that the 2024 Recurring and Maintenance Items Budget of $2,725.00 has incurred expenses of $1,346.93 and the Major Task Items Budget of $4,113.00 incurred expenses of $3,485.36, both in line with budget. The Treasurer's reports were approved as presented.
Jim Rush presented the initial part of the President's Report. He noted under Old Business that work on the layout, especially rebuilding of the locomotive maintenance area, has been carried out by several Members including Bob Watson, Rich Keckley, Gerry Williams, Bill Hardy, Leon Butler, Rod Randow, Bruce Wintersteen, Jack Maines, and others.
The video for May (Newcastle to Brisbane, Australia) was seen by 35 people in the AMT and by 16 in the BMT.
Visitors to the layout in May included 34 walk-ins and 5 by appointment. So far in June there have been 14 walk-ins and 7 by appointment.
Jim Rush reported that maintenance of the Website continued as required. In the Education section a new tunnel, Albula (Swiss RhB) and a recently announced hydrogen to electric experimental locomotive in the UK were highlighted.
Rush reported that he and Jack Maines have completed a document entitled GUIDE TO SMRC TRAIN OPERATION to serve as the basis for training Members as operators to improve our ability to demonstrate the layout to those who want to see and learn about Shannondell Model Railroad. The GUIDE has been distributed to the Executive Committee and to Rod Randow for review and comment. Any one who wants to see a copy should contact Jim Rush.
Rush also presented information on possible day trips to experience trains on Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad and East Broad Top Railroad. No further consideration of EBTR is contemplated because of lack of ADA accomodations at the site. However, five members are scheduled to travel from Reading Outere Station to Jim Thorpe (with side trip to Lehigh Gorge) on June 22. Rush will work with Activities to bring other trips to fruition.
Bruce Wintersteen presented updated information on the Locomotive Maintenance Facility redesign and rebuild. The most recent views of progress is shown below. Bruce reported that the new oil refinery configuration can be seen in the photos below. All turnouts, powered and manual, have been installed and are operational. Final wiring for track power and lighting is near completion. Some roads and landscaping have been started, butcannot be completed until train performance can be tsted and assured on all tracks. Work on this major project has moved along rapidly.
Leon Butler has installed a second QuadLN_S circuit board in Drawer #4 (Southeast) and configured both boards to control the turnouts, occupancy and sisgnals of that territory. All turbouts except for the Low Grade south double crossover are fully functional. Occupancy detectors will be installed next.
Bill Hardy and Rod Randow have been cleaning track and Bill has been dealing with an electrical problem on the Low Grade to High Line connector near Northville.
Two major donations to the club have been received. Lin Maynard, owner of Lin's Junction, has given us as large amount of scenic material and paints. Lin's Junction, located in Lansdale, is where SMRC sought advice and bought supplies and equipment until the shop closed a few years ago.
Bob Smith, a friend of Rich Keckley from Collegeville, has given the Club his entire layout including locomotives, freight and passenger cars, track, buildings and scenery. Needless to say, the Train Room has been crowded with boxes.
Both donations must be sorted into "keep", "sell" or "scrap" categories before reevaluation prior to the January Train Show in Oaks, PA.
The recent sale of Shannondell apparel was expanded to include new shirts for the Club. The shirts are now available for purchase by Club members (price not yet determined).
The Shannondell Activities Department arranged for a photo shoot in the Train Room on Tuesday, June 25 beginning at about 8:00 a.m. Those invited to the shoot were expected to wear their SMRC shirts.
The first Thursday of July is Independence Day, so the videos for July will as indicated under Upcoming Events. The Club meeting for July will be held on July 25 at 2:00 p.m.
There being no further business, the Meeting was adjourned at 2:40 p.m. Thanks to all who participated.
The next SMRC member meeting will be Thursday, July 25 at 2:00 p.m. in the Ashcroft Movie Theater. There will be no meeting in August.
Layout Changes
Several changes have been made to the Shannondell Model Railroad layout during 2023. Click here for details. More information on changes in 2024 are forthcoming.
Bruce Wintersteen's presentations on Railroad Signal Systems are available on this website.
Several changes have been made to the Shannondell Model Railroad layout during 2023. Click here for details. More information on changes in 2024 are forthcoming.
Bruce Wintersteen's presentations on Railroad Signal Systems are available on this website.