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Order Number 344 1 FORM 19
FORM 19The Official Newsletter of the
Hudson-Berkshire Divisionof the NER NMRA
www.hudson-berkshire.org
Order Number 344 February 2019
Next Division Meeting Friday, February 22, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.
Hudson Berkshire Member Charlie NewtonWill Present
The Genesee & Wyoming Railroad in the 1984 eraMalta Community Center, 1 Bayberry Drive, Malta, NY
Hudson Berkshire Division is pleased to have member Charlie Newton will give apresentation of the prototype Genesee & Wyoming Railroad in the 1984 era asrepresented by some photos and some thoughts for a modeling empire. He will show theprototype landscape, structures and equipment and a map of the line from that timeperiod. The G&W's had a mostly Alco roster and, with those engines and some of theirunique cars, service two (2!) customers on a 12 mile long railroad through LivingstonCounty NY. The railroad interchanged with Conrail (former LV, NYC, Erie, EL) and the B&Oat Caledonia NY, and the EL, later D&H at Greigsville NY. The primary commodity is rocksalt hauled in covered hoppers. He will also have a potential model layout drawing basedfor that time and the later expansion by the G&W to Mount Morris, NY. Charlie worked for the D&H from 1976-1979 out of Buffalo. He was a brakeman andwas on the first D&H salt job into Greigsville in January 1977 (a day with horrificweather), when the D&H began direct interchange with G&W at Greigsville, NY, a stationon the former Lackawanna Mainline. The D&H salt job GV-1 and GV-2 was a three day aweek train that provided road salt to New England and Pennsylvania. Prior to this date,CONRAIL operated the Salt Train and interchanged it to the D&H in Buffalo.
He finally got to take a few pictures of the G&W Railroad in about 1984.
There will also be a very short presentation on a novel means of efficiently and safelycleaning track. Free samples will be available for attendees at the meeting.
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Form19The Form19 is published eight timesper year for members of the HudsonBerkshire Division. The opinions expressed do notnecessarily reflect those of theDivision. Products and publicationsmentioned in Form19 in no wayconstitute an endorsement by theDivision.
The Form19 staff welcomes allcontributions. Letters, articles,photos, and other items may bemailed or e-mailed to the editor.Please include a note if you wouldlike materials returned. Suggestionsalso welcome.
PresidentIrwin D. Nathanson
609 Diamond Point RdDiamond Point, NY 12824
Vice PresidentArtie Krass
4 Burton DriveBallston Lake, NY 12019
TreasurerBenjamin Maggi
602 Albany Shaker RoadLoudonville,NY 12211
Form19 EditorBert Pflegl19 Lea Ave
Waterford, NY 12188(518) 235-8496
GTE ManagerJames Lauser
1814 Park BlvdTroy, NY 12180
[email protected](518) 528-5453
Copyright 2019, Bert Pflegl& Hudson Berkshire Division
The Ready LineBy Irwin D. Nathanson
I’d like to begin this column with a special ‘thank you’ to JohnDoehring, President of the North East Region (NER) who was ourspecial Guest Speaker at our January meeting. He took theafternoon off from work to drive about four hours (each way)from Massachusetts to our meeting in Malta!
Bert Pflegl, Paul Hoffman and I had a nice dinner with Johnbefore the meeting. It was a good opportunity for us to get toknow each other. Interestingly, although we didn’t know it then,John and I both worked for EXXON at the same time, way backin the 1980s. He was a geologist working for EXXON USA and Iwas working for EXXON International, involved with financialmanagement of their international fleet of ocean-going tankers.
Here’s a re-cap of the Division meeting that followed, for thosewho did not attend:
The first half of the meeting was presented by our guest speaker.First, John summarized the findings of a recent Member Survey.Then, based on what was learned from the Survey, he focusedon the NER’s vision, goals and objectives for the future. Mostimportantly, John shared six specific strategies for success, allaimed at realizing that vision and for fulfilling those goals andobjectives:
1. Strong fundamentals. Build a sustainable region through strong leadership, effective management, and great governance 2. Annual Convention. Host an outstanding regional convention each and every year, and add other events members want 3. Coupler newsletter. Publish the best newsletter in the association 4. Rich website. Create a great web site that is a hub of useful and relevant information and activity 5. Outreach and membership. Engage activity in the model railroading community and grow the membership 6. Division training and leadership. Provide divisions with expertise, best practices, and team support – and expect leaders to rise up
My first take away from our meeting is that John answered thequestion that was most pressing to me:
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What does the Region bring to the table;what do they do for us at the Division level?The Answer I heard was: plenty (we justneed to be open-minded)! As I told John, I’d really like the Region toorganize cross-Division activities. Forexample, I’d love to see a day of layoutvisits on the Hudson Berkshire Division’s farWestern border and on the Central NewYork Division’s far Eastern border. Theobjective would be to facilitate participationfrom our respective members who live inthat area and who don’t routinelyparticipate in events far from their homes. A complete copy of President Doehring’sPowerPoint presentation is being posted onour HBD website. The second half of the meeting waspresented by me, Treasurer Ben Maggi andGTE Chairman James Lauser. In effect, thiswas a State of the Division presentation. From this presentation come my nextthree Take Aways:
● We have a great new LeadershipTeam (elected Board of Directors +Treasurer, GTE Chairman, Form 19Editor and Associate Editor)
● GTE was a great success from everymeasure
● The Division is in a very solidfinancial situation
Feedback obtained during the State of theDivision presentation leads to my nextTake Away: Our members would like moreclinics; those aimed at helping us becomebetter modelers. I also think that my ideaof making at least some of these hands-on,modeling with the masters-type clinics,aimed at helping our members makeprogress towards MMR AchievementAwards, was well-received. For a long time, I’ve longed to organize aDivision bus trip to Exporail, the nationaltrain museum of Canada. It’s located just
across the border, south of Montreal. Astraight shot up I-87 which connects toCanada 15. But my fellow Leadership Teammembers and I made a false assumptionthat very few of our members holdPassports or Enhanced Driver’s Licensesneeded in order to cross the border (reallyrequired by U.S. Immigration to get backinto the USA!). Well, a poll taken duringthe meeting indicated that 95% of ourmembers do hold one or both documents!So, my last Take Away is: let’s go aheadand plan this event! (See:https://www.exporail.org/ ) A complete copy the State of the DivisionPowerPoint presentation is also beingposted on our HBD website. See you at our February meeting!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Friday March 22ndMike Romanowski
layout visit
Friday April 26thusing Arduino
for model railroadingArtie Krass
site TBD
May Friday May 24thclinic by Bruce Johnson
site TBD
Saturday June 15Family Picnic at ALS
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2018 GTE SummaryBy Form19 Staff
from Data Provided by James Lauser, GTE Manager
The 2018 Great Train Extravaganza wasbigger than ever, indeed at near capacityfor the space available at the Empire StatePlaza Convention Center. In fact, sixty-eight vendors 'purchased' two-hundred andforty-four tables for their displays. Therewere more than seventy-five additionaltables provided to exhibitors - thoseindividuals and organizations with displaysbut without anything for sale - such as theHudson Berkshire Division and the NER,NMRA. The arrangement of tables wassomewhat altered from previous years toaccommodate all of the requested space. There were twelve layouts, including someon the plaza level which had increasedspace available because the Plazamanagement had put up glass panels tomore clearly (pun intended) expand anddelineate the exhibit area. This held theLionel Collectors' 'Kid's Creek Layout,'which was kept low (at eye level forchildren) and was mobbed throughout mostof the day. This area also was home to theAlbany Free-Mo layout, the Lego layout, andthe large diesel engine and freight carbrought in by Adirondack Live Steamers. Vendors and volunteers worked diligentlyduring the day on Saturday and with hastebefore opening on Sunday to set everythingup. Vendors often setting out for displayhundreds, perhaps a thousand or more,items. All of this for the 3,071 guests(2,314 adults and 757 children) who werelooking for a good time, a particular item,or that one thing they would know whenthey found it. Indeed , one vendor wasobserved putting twelve car kits in onelarge bag while a gentleman with cash in hishand waited with a very happy smile on his
face. The vendor was smiling, also. Therewere 171 tickets sold online via the websitepurchasing feature that GTE Manager,James Lauser, set up for the show. James, with the assistance of his wife,Sarah (also the HB Division RecordingSecretary), contacted all the vendorsstarting mid-Summer, providing them withinformation and appropriate forms (the GTEis in a New York State facility), but alsorecruited the wonderful Division volunteers,assigning tasks, keeping them informed,and providing them with official, brightgreen GTE t-shirts, as can be seen in thephotos. These shirts readily identified thepeople who could provide help and answersto both vendors and guests. And the bottom line results are a grossrevenue of $23,751.20, with total expensesof $15,500.00 (estimated) and a net profitof $8,251.20 (estimated). The 'estimated'label is due to the fact that the final billfrom NYS OGS had not been received priorto press time. And when asked by the Form19, "Are youwilling to direct the GTE again this year?",James' answer was "Absolutely." And that is music to our collective ears.Thanks, James and Sarah, for a job verywell done.
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Some more photos of the2018 GTE taken andprovided by Charlie Newton,our speaker for this month'sDivision meeting. The one tothe right shows the goodcrowd that the show draws.And this year, thanks in partto good promotion andonline ticket sales, theattendance was 10% higherthan last year.
To the left is Bob Hamm (front)showing model details to aninterested visitor with a potentialmodeler looking on. Behind the roof isWendy Stebbins, from Pittsfield, MA,working on her model, and third in isTom Plesnarski, also working on amodel rail car. These three were heremost of the day, interacting withpeople and showing them that thehobby can be/is more than 'justrunning trains.'
At right you can see a woman watching a younggirl operate the 'time saver' module under theencouragement and direction of Jack Cutler. Aboy watches, waiting his turn. The 'time saver'gives children the opportunity to operate a scalemodel train and to experience moving andswitching cars - something beyond watchingthem travel in a continuous path. The GTE workshard (twelve layouts) to show people that modelrailroading is more than a train running underthe Christmas tree, something we are allencouraged to do. That’s Artie Krass staffing the Division table inthe background,
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Exquisite 1/87 ScaleTractor Trailer Models
for SaleBy Richard J. Smith
Those of you who have attended the GreatTrain Extravaganza over the past 30+ yearswill remember a gentleman with two exhibittables of beautiful 1/87 scale model trucks.He was a regular exhibitor at the show eversince the show first started at the EmpireState Plaza but in 2016 and 2017 you mayhave noticed this unassuming man was notat the show. I am terribly sad to report Mr.Glen Sauter died in May of 2018. This yearhis son and his grandson (Glen II) cameback to the show in honor of Glen Seniorand displayed his (and their) favorite trucks.It was not an easy task to pick two table’sworth of trucks to display. Why? Becausethe Glen Sauter collection has over 400trucks and semi tractor trailer models! I spoke with Glen Senior at every showwhile I was Chairman. He was a nice andinteresting gentleman and I enjoyed talkingwith him very much. He was a Schenectadynative and worked as an electrician for 42years after serving in the US Army in Korea.He is also survived by his wife Eleanor, who(like all our “model railroad wives”) is a sainttolerating his hobby. In Glen’s case theacquisition of an entire bedroom is requiredto house 400+ trucks, display cases andmodeling table … everything neat and tidyand in its place. Now Mrs. Sauter is readyto sell all but 50 pieces of the collection thatshe, her son, and grandson want to keep. Glen Senior ‘s trucks and tractor trailersare exquisite die-cast, plastic and resin kitsthat are highly detailed with custom paintjobs, lettering, reflective jewels, brakecables, rear view mirrors and more. Pleasesee the various photos included in this Form19 and look at Glen Senior’s attention to
detail. Some of his work was even shown inToy Trucker and Contractor magazine. Thesetrucks are works of art and now they areavailable to purchase. Of the ~350 trucksfor sale most are more modern scale models,say 1970s vintage to the present. There arelimited pieces that are “transition ear”(1950s) or older models. About 40 piecesare construction equipment. But even if yourtrain layouts are not on the modern side,you may want to see if there is a truck thatinterests you or catches your eye, just todisplay. I live in Saratoga Springs and gota Saratoga Water semi that I now proudlydisplay! Viewings of the collection are byappointment only thru Glen II (emailaddress [email protected]). Thecollection is located in Glenville, NY. Alsofor sale are a large D&H painted sign thatwas recovered from the Watervliet YardOffices (see photo) as well as a diorama byLou Sassi of a trailer park scene featured ina Kalmbach “how-to” scenery magazine.
There are photos showing just a few ofthese trucks on the next two page.
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Here are photos taken byRichard Smith of just four ofthe more than four hundredtrucks in the collectioncreated by Glen Sauter. Youcan see the variety of stylesand loads of these modelsand get a sense of the detail.But you really need to lookat them in the online editionto see the amazing detail.
Each truck is uniqueand distinctive in type,color, and loads.Above are two loadexamples that couldbe used on a layoutfitted to a modeler'sown trucks. Good luckfinding the tiny chainbinders that Glen used.
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A few more pictures of the trucks inthe Glen Suater collection. As you lookat these, remember that they are inHO scale - yes, 1/87 life size. Thatmeans that two of the trailers can fiton a flatcar. Putting these togetherand applying decals is a real challenge- and Mr. Sauter did it so well.
Most of the HO scale model trucks of Mr.Sauter's collection are for sale, along withthe D&H sign seen below. See The articlefor details.
And if you havemodel items youwant to sell ormight be seeking,contact the Form19and we will happilyput that in thenewsletter.
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Congratulations to Benjamin Maggi (theDivision Treasurer) upon receiving his APaward for Model Railroad Engineer - Electrical.The award was presented to him by MasterModel Railroader Kevin Surman (left) at theJanuary Division meeting. Ben certainly lookshappy. A well deserved recognition for all thestudy and practice that goes into an APcertification.
A fabulous scene, even though there are no trains in view at the moment. It looks likea painting at a much earlier time. And, indeed, it is - but a three-dimensional 'painting'of life in the early 1950's. Of course, many will recognize it as being part of the NewEngland, Berkshire & Western Railroad of the Rensselaer Model Railroad Society. TheNEB&W has been in the basement of the Davison Hall dormitory for more than threedecades. But in January, the railroad was told it would have to be removed prior torenovation of the building this Summer. Specifics of the move and the final location forthe layout are incomplete at this time.
Order Number 344 10 FORM 19
First Class Mail
FORM 19Hudson Berkshire DivisionPO Box 83Clifton Park, NY 12065-0083
At the GTE a smiling Artie Krass, who probably deserves the title of 'Mr. HudsonBerkshire,' nicely photographed by Charlie Newton, this month's speaker.
