The NHRHTA and a New Train Show

Lots going on lately on the Valley Line between manufacturer visits, new articles coming out, and even a little layout work in between. But here are a couple more things happening 'round here . . .

The NHRHTA has a new President

I've been a member of the New Haven Railroad Historical & Technical Association (NHRHTA, Inc.) since the late 1980s and have been it's Photo Librarian for the past 20 years or so. During that time - in fact, for the last 43 years - the Association has been ably led by either Bill Dulmaine, Wayne Drummond, or Bill Dulmaine (for a second stint :^) So when Bill decided it was time to retire and asked whether I'd consider filling his position, I was reticent at first since he leaves such huge shoes to fill! But I decided to accept because I'm excited about the future of the NHRHTA and look forward to helping keep the memory of the New Haven Railroad alive for future generations.

With that goal in mind, one of my first efforts as the NHRHTA's new President is to promote our Association at as many train shows as we can.

There's a New Train Show in CT

And the first opportunity will be at a BRAND NEW train show that's coming up next Sunday, October 29, sponsored by the Amherst Railway Society (of Springfield show fame) and directed by my friend Dave Owens (of NERPM fame). Anyone familiar with Dave or Springfield can expect this new show to be pretty great right out of the gate. There are a number of vendors already booked (including Ron's Books, Tom's Trains, Steve Magnani/Hobby Gallery, a tool vendor, and several Lionel and American Flyer dealers), and your truly will be there as well, flying the NHRHTA flag with my friends Randy, Pieter, Dick, and Charlie.

So I hope you'll make plans to come out and support Dave and the show. Admission is only $8 and benefits the Rockville High School Music Department. And if you're able to make it, be sure to stop by the NHRHTA table to say "Hi!" - and consider becoming a member! :^)

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Springfield part deux)

I'm not exactly sure what year it started, but "a few years ago" Randy and I were sitting at the Steaming Tender restaurant after spending a particularly successful day at the Springfield show when we got a bright idea (egged on, in no small measure, by Bill - IIRC). The Steaming Tender has a beautiful dining room, set in the old waiting room of the Palmer, MA railroad station. Designed by renowned architect Henry Hobson Richardson, the building itself is a wonder and the owners have done an amazing job restoring it. The food is pretty amazing too.

But, as you would imagine, a railroad-themed restaurant, in a magnificent railroad station, situated next to not one, but TWO major railroad lines, would be quite a draw for folks attending the show. And it is - so much in fact that I think the wait to get in was originally somewhere between one and two hours.

So, sitting there, enjoying our after-dinner beverages it occurred to us: The Steaming Tender has an ex-New Haven Railroad parlor car next to the restaurant that is used for "special parties." Well, we figured we'd qualify as a "special" party at least, so we plopped down a deposit that night, reserving the car for the next year. And we've had it firmly in hand ever since.

As wonderful as it is to be able to sit in a much quieter environment, surrounded by such lavish beauty, it's especially nice to know we have reserved seating - and there's no wait. Best of all though, we get to invite anywhere from 25-30 of our best friends to join us. YOU try getting a table that large! "Party of 30 - table 4." Not. You can freely move around and visit with all your buddies. The car is fully staffed and drinks and food are brought right to the car. I don't mind admitting it's a pretty sweet setup,

But like I said, the best part of all is being able to really spend some quality time with folks you probably only get to see once a year - and you don't have to worry about catching them during the show itself. Here are some quick pics of the "special parties" that showed up to the party this year...

(You'll only get this if you listen to the "A Modeler's Life" podcast)

Springfield Show 2016 (vol. 1)

It's gotten pretty busy at work lately as we ramp up to the 2016 legislative fun & games session, so I haven't had much time to post lately. I have, however, been making some incremental progress on the layout (mostly having to do with the west end staging yard), and some great progress on my New Haven Railroad shanty stove restoration (mostly having to do with taking it out to a shop on Cape Cod - then having to (re?)do some of the work myself. Not to mention, um, a house full of smoke - but that's for a future post).

But no matter how busy I get, I always, Always, ALWAYS try and make time for Springfield (aka The Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show). This event is the largest of its kind in North America and is only about 90 minutes from where I live. Folks come from around the world to attend, and there's typically 25 thousand of us on a typical weekend - even despite New England winter weather. Last year's numbers were a little low due to a snow storm on Saturday - and I couldn't make it since I had the flu. But this year's great weather and 2 years' pent up anticipation guaranteed a great turnout.

Especially since people will literally drag themselves out of their deathbeds to get to this show.

Nothing - not the flu, not TB, not Ebola - will keep folks away from Springfield. I actually saw a guy in a body cast trying to navigate the crowded aisles, his knee resting on a little scooter that he shuffled along on...

I'm not kidding! Part of me wanted badly to get a picture as evidence of his dedication to the hobby, but I didn't want to appear rude. At least he wasn't contagious. The stories are legendary of the "Springfield Flu" that afflicts most attendees within a few days of the show, given all the sickees there.

But I wimped out last year, so I was pretty excited to be able to make it this year. I only had one day to get through all 4 buildings (multiple acres' worth), so it was especially nice I had a perfect health-conscious excuse to avoid shaking hands with people so I could just motor through.

It also helped that at this stage in my hobby, I'm not really looking for much - and what I am looking for is very specific. For example, while gathering research on my line's operations, I discovered - much to my shock and surprise - that I don't have a New Haven Railroad Book of Rules. I had the 1956 version at one point, but sold it on eBay during one of my ruthless era-specific cleansings. For my chosen era of 1947, the NHRR's 1943 edition is the one to get. But I've looked for one for a while and haven't been able to find one. I also needed to stop by Bob's Photo and pick up a book on Vermont railroads he'd set aside for me (my library covers anything New England railroad related). Finally, I always keep my eyes open for good deals on class K moguls and class J mikados, not to mention DL-109s. I've got what I need but I'd like to have a few more - especially if the price is right.

Rather than give you a play-by-play of the day, here's a quick sampling of a couple of the more interesting things I saw as I motored walked on by . . ..

Given the limited time, I tend to skip all the great layouts on display, and concentrate on the vendors. But I couldn't help taking a quick snap of this diorama. I plan to "embiggen" this pic so I can enjoy exploring all the details. This was at the Fine Scale Model Railroad Expo booth - another local show I hope to do someday - this year if I can swing the work schedule.

Prototype modeling at its best - an almost scale model of the famous Crawford Notch line of the Maine Central. Beautifully done.

There are also a number of cool educational displays - folks using fine scale modeling to tell the stories of some important history. In this case, we have a display of how the famous Hoosac Tunnel was drilled.

Even though I was generally skipping the layouts, I couldn't resist getting a few photos of this one of the O&W. While the backdrop isn't at all like the area of my Valley Line, the foreground setup is very much like what I plan to do for Essex up through East Haddam.

And speaking of the Valley Line, check out this cool collection of brass luggage tags - certainly nothing like the tags the airlines use today! Many of these are for stations along the Valley Line - very old and extremely rare.

I finally made it to the Rapido booth to see Bill on duty - and to check out the test model of their new RDC. In what will likely be another example of era creep, I may just have to get me one (just one!) of these. It's a whole train in one car length - perfect for a line that has no passing sidings!

Now, without any further ado, I'll answer the perennial question on the minds of folks who weren't able to attend Springfield as well as the lucky ones who did: "Whadja get??"

So here's my booty . . .

First thing in the day, the fine fellows at True Line Trains hooked me up with not one, not Two, but THREE 1937 AAR boxcars, painted for Canadian roads in schemes and/or numbers I don't already have. They'll be a great addition to the fleet!!

I also found (another) copy of the 1956 edition of the New Haven RR Book of Rules for just $3 from the guy who had the cool baggage tag collection. It was early in the day and I figured it best to get at least some sort of rulebook for my collection - and at only 3 bucks, I couldn't go wrong.

After roaming around for most of the day, and enjoying seeing and chatting with old friends (and meeting some new ones, which I'll get to in a future post), I finally saw what I'd been most hunting for: a 1943 edition of the NHRR rule book!! On the same table was a 1906 edition of Car Service Rules - certainly way before my era, but I expect it'll make for some pretty interesting reading. And all that route information should come in at least a little handy in learning how traffic moved on my favorite railroad (even if over 40 years before my era). I asked the gal how much for both, she said she'd have to check - she thought they were $10 each, but I could have them both for $10. I would have paid $10 for just the rule book, so I feel like I got the other book for free!

During the course of the day, I found a J-1 mikado and 3(!) K-1s, all at the same dealer. The prices were more than I wanted to pay, so I ended up passing on them.... for now. I expect they'll be available next time - it's just good to know there are still some of these around to be had.

Finally, as the show was winding down, my buddies and I headed across the street to Bob's Photo - they to check out the photos, me to pick up a book that had been set aside for me at the Marlborough show (aka the New England Model Train Expo). I'd seen that he had (what I thought were) "both" volumes of "Railroads of Vermont" and I knew I had one of them, but I didn't remember which one. So I'd texted the Missus asking her to check my shelf and send a pic back, but by the time she did, Pete and I were already on our way home. But at least I now knew I already owned Volume 2, so I had Bob set aside the other volume for me to pick up in Springfield. Well, I'd assumed it was Volume 1 (all the better to address my OCD), but it ended up he only had the "Pictorial" which was, essentially, Volume 3 (though not marked as such - but it's the 3rd book in the series). So, suffice it to say, my OCD on this is now even worse than it was before. But he was giving away a free book with purchase, so I got a copy of "Boston & Maine Diesel Switchers and Road Switchers, Vol. 1" which I supposed was to assuage me, but now I wonder if I should get Volume 2 of that series . . .#firstworldproblems

But all in all it was a very good day - and it wasn't over yet! I still had dinner at the Steaming Tender to look forward to, but that'll have to wait until next time...