September/October 2023

President's Message

Gordy Robinson MMR®

We’ve just spent a fantastic week together in Grapevine TX. There were lots of things for everyone to get involved in, as well as a number of innovations introduced and relationships made. It was really encouraging to see the level of collaboration between different groups during the event, most noticeably between OpSIG and the Free-moN group who provided the Operations Road Show using a layout that was almost 10 scale miles in length. This allowed 300 convention attendees to take part in operating sessions. There were multiple other opportunities to work together through clinics, meetings, tours and more. Next year we will be in Long Beach CA and there is no better time to get that convention registration submitted.

During the NMRA Board meetings which took place before the convention itself, the Board decided to increase our national team and Lucy Dormont started with the NMRA as our new Marketing Engagement Officer on Monday August 28^th. Lucy will support our Social Media messaging and provide content creation support to the marketing department. There are lots of great things across the NMRA and I’m thankful for your contribution to our journey.

Gordy

Gordy Robinson MMR®

NMRA President

Surfliner 20204 NMRA National Convention

Pat Raymer

President, PSR

The week-long SurfLiner 2024 NMRA National Convention is being hosted by the Pacific Southwest Region of the NMRA on August 4-11, 2024 at The Westin Hotel in Long Beach, California.

The convention program includes:

Hundreds of Model Railroading Clinics: Including on-site and live-virtual clinics along with coveted Modeling with the Masters hands-on clinics, covering almost every aspect of model railroading you might be interested in!

Layout Tours and Operating Sessions: The Pacific Southwest Region has some excellent model railroad club and home layouts to visit - on your own or as part of organized tours. Many layouts will also be hosting operating sessions!

Prototype Tours: Excursions to Los Angeles Union Station, the Metro Rail Fleet Services Facility, Travel Town Museum, Historic ATSF 3751 steam locomotive and other exciting destinations are scheduled!

General Interest Tours and Activities: Several interesting and fun non-railroading focused trips are planned, including special tours to the Bowers Museum and the Warner Bros. Studios. And Disneyland, famous beaches, and quaint beach towns are only a short drive from the hotel. On-site crafting, quilting, painting, games, speakers, social events, and cooking classes are also being organized!

Contests and Awards: The Celebration of Models Room provides an opportunity to display your models, photos, etc., and appreciate the work of others. Achievement Program Merit Award judging will be available along with People’s Choice contests and awards!

National Train Show®: The National Train Show® is sponsored by the NMRA and is a combined industry trade show and hobby show. Convention attendees receive early, special access to the show on Friday August 9th, where you will see the latest model railroading products, meet major manufacturers, and purchase items for your layout. Don’t miss out on this incredible week of model railroading experiences!

For more information visit surfliner2024.org .

New Marketing Team Member

Christina Zambri

NMRA Marketing Consultant

This is an exciting moment for the NMRA and its future as we welcome our newest team member, Lucy Dormont. With a background in social media/marketing, a love for the railroads, and experience with non-profits, we are so excited to see where she will take the NMRA! Aside from Social Media, Lucy will also provide graphic design and copywriting assistance and is an additional resource for Regions and Divisions.

Her background as a digital creator, as well as her founding of and work at the Meridian Rails Historical Society – Meridian Railroad Museum add to Lucy's qualifications and show her passion and dedication for railroads. Her excitement and passion for this position and working with the NMRA were immediately very evident, and she already has many ideas on how to improve upon and grow our current social media efforts and marketing material as they pertain to recruitment, retention, and engagement. All of these qualities combined will help bolster the NMRA's presence and reputation throughout the hobby.

"I am truly honored for this opportunity. When I first started Meridian Rails Historical Society back in 2020, I had no idea the love that I would develop for both this industry and hobby. I am eager to inspire the next generation of model railroaders and spread the wisdom of seasoned modelers. Bring on the layout tours!" -Lucy Dormont

Lucy is from Athens, AL, and currently resides in Olive Branch, MS with her husband, Taylor, and her two young boys, Owen and Connor. Please help me in welcoming Lucy to the NMRA family! She can be reached at engage@nmra.org.

Help us provide a warm welcome to our newest team member at the #NMRA!

Volunteers Needed

The NMRA is run by volunteers. Get involved by contributing your expertise and time.

Standards and Conformance

The S&C Department is looking for volunteers to assist with development of the next generation of test equipment to validate conformance of DCC decoders and command stations.

Software Programmer I

A programmer is needed to create software to run on the STM32 Nucleo platform with a custom carrier board. Knowledge of the following would be assets:

STM32CubeIDE development platform
Embedded C and C++
Network Apps on LWIP
Knowledge of the inner working of DCC
GIT Hub

Software Programmer II

A second programmer is needed as well. Knowledge of the following would be assets:

Linux (Raspberry Pi or similar)
Python programming (v3 preferred)
Familiarity with JMRI
Familiarity with JAVA
Embedded systems programming, communications protocols, networking
Knowledge of the inner working of DCC
GIT Hub

Other NMRA Departments

All NMRA Departments are actively recruiting new volunteers year-round, so if you want to share your experience and skills and help the NMRA deliver something you are really passionate about, then please reach out to me.

Gordy Robinson

NMRA President

president@nmra.org

Board of Directors' Winter Meeting Returns to West Springfield

Chris Palermo

At-Large North American Director

In its summer meeting at the national convention, the NMRA’s Board of Directors agreed to once again hold its next winter meeting in conjunction with the Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield, Massachusetts. The Board meeting will be held on January 26, 2024, with a session open to all members. The Railroad Hobby Show runs January 27-28 and is the largest railroad-themed trade show in America. The event occupies 350,000 square feet in four buildings on the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds, covering model railroads, railroad art and photography, railroad history and preservation, tourist railroads, railroad artifacts, and railroad books and videos.

2024 Nominees

Mike Cummings

NMRA Secretary

The following individuals have been approved by the Nominating Committee, and will be on the ballot for the electronic elections in early 2024. Watch for your ballot, and please vote.

President: Gordon (Gordy) Robinson
Vice President: Rick Coble
Eastern District Director: John Doehring
Pacific District Director: Duncan Cabassi
Pacific District Director: Brad Anderson
At-Large North American Director: Bruce Wilson
At-Large North American Director: Chris Palermo

New Gauges

Chris Palermo, ALNAD

Andy Zimmerman, S&C Department Manager

Due to the loss of its manufacturing partner, The National Association of S Gaugers (NASG) reached out to the NMRA to assist with the development of a replacement S-Scale standards gauge. Current stock is low and with the new growth within the organization they need to replenish their inventory of standards gauges. In response, NMRA's Standards & Conformance Department worked collaboratively with NASG to develop a replacement plan. S&C reviewed and defined the specifications for the standard S scale gauge, created new architectural drawings, arranged manufacturing, and acquired a prototype for review by NASG and the NMRA S&C. Once approved through NASG these gauges will be available on both the NMRA store and the NASG website.

In related news, at its semi-annual meeting in Texas last month, NMRA's Board of Directors approved a revision of Recommended Practice 2 (RP-2), pertaining to gauges, with modernized language and newly drawn graphics.

The NMRA S&C Department announced its new partnership with Evans Tool and Die in previous e-Bulletins. By working closely with this manufacturer since March of this year, and with NMRA HQ, the S&C Department is pleased to announce that stock of all Standards gauges (standard and narrow gauge) have been replenished, in HO, HOn3, N, O, On3, On30, S (soon), and Sn3. The NMRA supports all scales. No more issues with bowed gauges or items out of stock. Back orders have been filled (or are being filled). RP's and TN's have been updated accordingly for consistency. We look forward to a long and prosperous partnership with Evans Tool and Die.

Newest Master Model Railroader® recipients

The Board of Directors and Executive of the NMRA would like to extend our sincere congratulations to the following members who have completed their MMR®. Well done!

741. Steve Salotti (MER)

742. Ed Smith (MER)

743. Beverly Farnham (SSR)

744. Tom Greco (LSR)

745. Bill Yancey (PNR)

"Master Model Railroader" and "MMR" are registered trademarks of the NMRA. A list of all MMRs can be found at nmra.org/master-model-railroaders

Upcoming Conventions

Sep. 14-17 Cartersville Express, Cartersville, GA (SER)
Sep. 29-Oct. 2 Rails @ Rosehill, Rosehill, NSW, Australia (AR)
Oct. 5-8 Cannonball Express, Uniondale, NY (NER)
Oct. 12-14 High Speed Rail Special, Plant City, FL (SSR)
Oct. 19-22 Round the Curve to Altoona, Altoona, PA (MER)
Oct. 19-22 Fort Wayne Rails, Fort Wayne, IN (NCR)
Oct. 20-22 NMRA BR Convention 2023, Derby, UK (BR)
Nov. 9-12 Rails Along the Rio Grande, Albuquerque, NM (RMR)

New Tracks Modeling Mentoring Scholarship

Riley Triggs

Publications Department Manager

The New Tracks Modeling Mentoring Scholarship for 2023 has been awarded to Ethan P. Bernstein of Maryland. The $1,000 scholarship will help Ethan continue his studies at Johns Hopkins University for the 2023-2024 academic year. Ethan has completed his sophomore year and is studying nano-medicine and immunotherapy. He is an avid N-scale model railroader and member of the NMRA and the Baltimore Area N-Track (BANTRAK) club. Ethan was chosen from 7 applicants from across the United States to receive the inaugural scholarship.

While the initial scholarship was funded by New Tracks Modeling, LLC, the scholarship is now a project of New Tracks Mentoring Inc., a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation established in 2023 that is committed to assisting young model railroaders pursue STEAM studies at the college or technical school level. The non-profit plans to award at least $4,000 in scholarships for the 2024-2025 academic year. Donors wishing to support the program, as well as students interested in finding out more about the scholarship can visit newtracksmodeling.com/scholarship or email NTMMS@newtracksmodeling.com or jimkellow@newtracksmodeling.com .

Partnership Program

The companies listed below give discounts to NMRA members when orders are placed using a special discount code. Newly added companies are in bold red. Check them out! You can find descriptions of these companies and their products, links to their websites, and the discount codes on our Partnership Page at nmra.org/partnerships . Remember you need to be logged into our site as a member to see the codes! Go to nmra.org/user/register to register your name on the website.

CatzPaw Innovations

Clever Models

CMR Products

Coastmans Scenic Products

Composite Designs

Conowingo Models

Daylight Sales

Deepwoods Software

Deluxe Materials

Digikeijs

Dwarvin Enterprises

East Coast Circuits

Enterprise&National Car Rentals

Evan Designs

Feight Studios

Fusion Scale Graphics

Gatorfoam

Great Decals!

Green Frog Productions

Highways and Byways Model Railroad Graphics

Hot Wire Foam Factory

K.I.S.S. Method

LaBelle Woodworking

LARC Products

Logic Rail Technologies

MAC Rail

Micro-Mark

Mine Mount Models

Miniprints

Model Rectifier Corp (MRC)

Model Train Catalogue

Modelers Decals & Paint

Motrak Models

New Creations Victorian Railroad Building

Nick and Nora Designs

Northlandz

NScaleWorks

Old West Scenery

Ram Track

RR-CirKits

Scale Model Plans

Scenery Solutions

Showcase Miniatures

Team Track Models

The N Scale Architect

Tichy Train Group

The Old Depot Gallery

Touch of the Brush Weathering

Train Installations

Train Show, Inc.

Trainmasters TV/MRH Store

Trainz

TSG Multimedia

UGEARS

USA Airbrush Supplies/Badger

WiFi Model Railroad

Coming soon to all members

Texas Express 2023 Coverage
National Contest Results
An Easy Module/Benchwork Angle/Length Calculator

Did you miss?

Thanks to volunteer Tom Bensberg, all NMRA eBulletins and NMRA Dispatches are archived on the NMRA website. Here are a few links to items you may have missed.

Dispatches

Announcing the NMRA Interchange! 2023-01

eBulletin articles

Estate Planning July/August issue
Instructions for joining the Interchange March/April issue
Have an event coming up? Let the NMRA calendar(s) know! Jan/Feb 2021 issue
NMRA Digital Magazine FAQs Jan/Feb 2022 issue
New Beginner's Guide July/August 2022 issue
Detroit Selected for 2025 Convention November/December 2022 issue

Editor: John Bate, Canadian District Director

The NMRA eBulletin is an official bi-monthly production of the National Model Railroad Association, Inc. Publishing Department (Riley Triggs, Manager). Its purpose is to keep every NMRA member informed about organization news and events. If you know of an NMRA member who is not receiving this mailing, please direct them to nmra.org/members to update their email address. If you no longer wish to receive these mailings, please don't mark them as spam. Instead, click the safe Unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page. ©2021 National Model Railroad Association, Inc., P.O. Box 1328, Soddy Daisy TN 37384.

National Model Railroad Association nmra.org