Carolina Piedmont Division 13
of the
NMRA Mid-Eastern Region

News & Information

This page contains all kinds of news and current information, including current events, details about train shows, notice of the next Club meeting, etc., that are of current relevance to Members and others. Check through the topics; you may find something of particular interest for you! Perhaps even some humor. Click on the subject title below to go straight to that section.

Paymaster's Report
Cary, March, 2009

This report covers the month of February 2009:

Notes from the March 24 Board of Directors and Division Meetings
Cary, March 24, 2008

Board of Directors Meeting

The Board of Directors (BOD) meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM by Superintendent John Janosko.
Officers and board members present included Superintendent John Janosko, Assistant Superintendent Pete Slugg, Clerk Grif Bond, Paymaster John Rudisill and Directors Vic Bitleris, Jerry Mersch and John Wallis.
Motion made by John Wallis with second by Vic Bitleris with a second by Pete Slugg to approve the Clerk’s minutes of the February 2009 meeting. Motion passed 7-0. Motion made by Vic Bitleris with a second by John Wallis to approve the February 2009 Paymaster’s report. Motion passed 7-0.
Superintendent Janosko advised the BOD that approximately 75 of the 200 Norfolk Southern box cars had been sold.
Director Mersch reviewed the popular voting rules for the special modeling contest. Members will vote on their top 3 favorites. The BOD will award 3 honorable mention winners from the remainders. BOD members with entries will not be able to vote for the honorable mention awards. BOD members to vote on the honorable mention awards were John Rudisill, Pete Slugg and John Wallis.
Superintendent Janosko advised the BOD that the formal letter to Roger Cason with the MER is pending.
New business:
Assistant Superintendent Slugg informed the BOD of the 2009 presentations for the Cary Senior Center. Kim Parker presented “Thomas the Tank” and the next presentation will be on switching layouts. The November and December meetings for 2009 will be held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. The CPD13 clinic for April will be the “annual prototype questionnaire” presented by John Wallis. The “Weathering I & II” clinics for May and June will be held in the ballroom.

Division Meeting

The Division meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Superintendent John Janosko. 28 members were present at the start of the meeting. Several guests were also in attendance.
Superintendent Janosko reviewed the discussion and actions from the earlier Board of Directors meeting.
Assistant Superintendent Slugg informed the membership of the 2009 presentations for the Cary Senior Center. Kim Parker has presented “Thomas the Tank” for the Cary Senior Center and the next presentation will be on switching layouts. The November and December meetings for 2009 will be held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. The CPD13 clinic for April will be the “annual prototype questionnaire” presented by John Wallis. The “Weathering I & II” clinics for May and June will be held in the ballroom.
Jack Dziadul presented a clinic on “MMR Excel Spreadsheet” which focused on ways to track your progress on recording activities to meet the requirements for the various Achievement Program certificates. A detailed handout was provided.
There were 12 entries of diorama models for the Life-Like Supply House “special modeling contest”. The membership voted for their 1st, 2nd and 3rd place choices during the extended refreshment break.
Popular vote winners were: 1st place – Jerry Mersch; 2nd place – Joe Getz; 3rd place – Jim Babcock. BOD honorable mention awards went to Vic Bitleris, Barrie Husch and Jim Murphy.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM. Recorded by Grif Bond, Clerk.

Notes from the February 24 Board of Directors and Division Meetings
Cary, February 24, 2008

Board of Directors Meeting

The Board of Directors (BOD) meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM by Superintendent John Janosko.
Officers and board members present at the start of the meeting included Superintendent John Janosko, Assistant Superintendent Pete Slugg, Clerk Grif Bond and Director Vic Bitleris. Director Joe Getz and Paymaster John Rudisill arrived after the start of the meeting.
A motion made by Vic Bitleris with second by Pete Slugg to approve the minutes of the January 2009 meeting with no corrections. The motion passed 4-0 (Janosko, Slugg, Bond, Bitleris). A motion was made by Vic Bitleris with a second by Grif Bond to approve the Paymaster’s report with one correction to the “ending” balance date. The motion passed 5-0 (Janosko, Slugg, Bond, Bitleris, Getz).
Clerk Bond displayed he prizes for the March special modeling contest.
Dave Derway and Jerry Mersch reported they had received several thank you letters from families who received a train set as part of the 2008 Holiday Trains for Kids campaign.
A motion was made by Joe Getz with a second by Vic Bitleris to provide a $50 disbursement to Steve Verderosa for lost artwork and photographs used with the design work for the Durham and Southern hopper cars produced for CPD13 by Bowser. The motion passed 5-0 (Janosko, Slugg, Bond, Bitleris, Getz).
The BOD reviewed the proposed privacy policy distributed by the Mid-Eastern Region.
The BOD discussed distribution of the Division membership list and agreed that the list should be sent to the Superintendent and Clerk. The Clerk is the official record keeper for the Division.
After discussion, a motion was made by Pete Slugg with a second by Joe Getz to authorize the Division Superintendent to explore Division alignment with the Southeast Region (SER). The motion passed 4-1-1 (Aye - Janosko, Slugg, Bitleris, Getz; Nay – Bond; Abstain – Rudisill).
A motion was made by Vic Bitleris with a second by Joe Getz to present Allan Paul, NC DOT, with an assembled NS car in appreciate for the January 2009 tour. The motion passed 6-0.
Paymaster Rudisill advised the 2008 annual financial statement was available for publication in the March newsletter.
Assistant Superintendent Slugg reviewed the popular vote contest schedule and clarified the scheduled weathering clinics. “Weathering I” will be in May and will be for box cars. “Weathering II” will be the June program and will be for structures.
Meeting adjourned at 6:50 PM. Recorded by Grif Bond, Clerk.

Division Meeting

The Division meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Superintendent John Janosko. 29 members were present at the start of the meeting.
Superintendent Janosko reviewed the discussion and actions from the earlier Board of Directors meeting.
The membership was reminded of the “Supply House” special modeling contest for the March contest. The prizes were displayed for the membership.
The election was held for one director position. Nominees recommended by the Nominating Committee were Will Seehorn and John Wallis. No additional nominations were offered from the floor. John Wallis was elected by majority membership vote for a three (3) year term.
Dave Derway updated the membership on the 2008 Holiday Trains for Kids program. 10 HO scale train sets were distributed. Derway read two thank you letters from family members of children who received train sets. Photos of the deliveries of the train sets were shared with the membership. Jerry Mersch also read a thank you letter from a parent.
Jack Dziadul updated the membership on the planned CPD13 tour of Tichy Train Group in Burlington on April 25th. The sign-up sheet was circulated.
Dick Buchan indicted the NMRA recognized an error with the recent ballot mailing with Scale Rails. A replacement ballot will be mailed. Everyone was encouraged to vote.
Superintendent Janosko explained the Board of Directors’ concern regarding the absence of a model train show at the annual MER convention. He also explained the BOD vote to explore Division alignment with the Southeast Region (SER).
Steve Milley was welcomed as a new member.
Kim Parker and John Wallis presented a clinic on “Programming DDC Decoders” which focused on types of programming, equipment to use, methods of programming and computer interfaces.
Dick Buchan won the monthly popular vote model contest with his EMD Pennsylvania Railroad modified F-3 with train phone antenna. He received a $10.00 gift certificate from Train Buddy Products
The meeting also adjourned at 8:45 PM. Recorded by Grif Bond, Clerk.
Editor’s note - Meeting minutes for both the Board of Directors and Division Meeting are “preliminary” and subject to correction and approval by the Board of Directors at the next scheduled meeting. Please notify the Clerk of any corrections. Thanks.

Notes from the January 27 Board of Directors and Division Meetings
Cary, January 27, 2008

Combination Board of Directors Meeting and Division Meeting

The meeting started at 6:30 in one of the meeting rooms in one of the track side buildings at the NC DOT rail yard in Raleigh. Vic Bitleris made a motion to approve the minutes for the December meeting and Joe Getz seconded the motion, it was passed unanimously. Joe Getz made a motion to approve the Paymasters December Report, Vic Bitleris seconded the motion and it was passed.

Vic Bitleris presented Gene Sing with his AP Certificate for Chief Dispatcher. Congratulations Gene!

Since we had an abbreviated meeting in January, the elections will be held in the regular February meeting. John Wallis and Will Seehorn will be candidates for the open Director’s position. If there are any others who would like to run for this position, please contact Vic Bitleris or Jerry Mersch.

John Janosko will be contacting an individual in Cary regarding a donation of model railroad items to the division.

Joe Getz volunteered to bring snacks for the February meeting.

The combination meeting adjourned for the one hour NC DOT rail yard tour which began at 7:00 PM.

The meeting minutes recorded by Vic Bitleris for Grif Bond.

Notice of Annual Meeting

The annual meeting of the Carolina Piedmont Division of the Mid-Eastern Region of the NMRA will be held at the Cary Senior Center on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 7:00 PM. Business to be conducted includes the election on one Director for a 3 year term.

Kalmbach Publishing, along with the Model Railroad Industry Association and manufacturers such as Atlas and Walthers, has created The World's Greatest Hobby Campaign to promote the hobby of model railroading, and to help recruit new people to the hobby. The Campaign is looking for support at both the individual and club level. Individuals can sign up at http://greatesthobby.com. More information as well as a complete, downloadable booklet is available at this web site.

The next Division meetings are usually on the 4th Tuesdays of the month (except Nov & Dec):

Month

Topic

January

NC DOT Tour

February

Kim Parker & John Wallis - DCC Decoder Clinic Session II

March

Jack Dziadul - "An MMR Excel Spreadsheet"

April

John Wallis - Annual Prototype Railroad Questionnaire

May

Dan Fisher, Jim Murphy, Pete Slugg - Weathering Clinic Part I
(Craft Room #306)

June

Dan Fisher, Jim Murphy, Pete Slugg - Weathering Clinic Part II
(Craft Room #306)

July

Vic Bitleris, Jim Babcock - Getting Started In Resin Cars

August

Mason Cutchin - Lost Wax Castings

September

Dan Fisher - Updating Brass Locomotives

October

Vic Bitleris - Mini-clinic Part I: Using Polly-S

November

December

Month

Topic

January

N/A due to Tour

February

EMD F-Units
Bring any F-Unit diesels.

March

Supply House Structure & Diorama Contest
Try to win!

April

MOW Anything
Bring anything related to maintence of way.

May

Cement Cars
Bring any cement rolling stock.

June

Kit-based Structures
Bring anything scratch-built/kit-bashed together.

July

Any "Open Car"
Bring anything flat, stump, gondola, etc.

August

Engine Maintenance Facilities
Bring structures from the Shops.

September

Anything But A Caboose
Bring your repurposed caboose.

October

Cranes and Crane Tenders
Bring the derricks.

November

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December

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Directions to Cary Senior Center

Cary Senior Center is located in the Bond Park Complex at 801 High House Road, on the south side of High House Road between Cary Parkway and Northwest Maynard Road.

From the south via US 1 take the Cary Parkway exit and proceed west (left). Turn right at High House Road and proceed east. Bond Park is on your right just past the shops. The Senior Center is located on the first street (most westerly street) into the park.

From the west via US 64 take the Salem Street exit and proceed north. Turn left at Cary Parkway and proceed west. Turn right at High House Road and proceed east. Bond Park is on your right just past the shops. The Senior Center is located on Maury O'Dell Place (the first and most westerly street) into the park.

From Highway 54 west, turn right at Cary Parkway. Proceed to High House Road and turn left. Proceed east on High House Road. Bond Park is on your right just past the shops. The Senior Center is located on Maury O'Dell Place (the first and most westerly street) into the park.

From Highway 54 east, turn left at Northwest Maynard Road. Proceed to High House Road and turn right. Proceed west on High House Road. Bond Park will be on your left. The Senior Center is located on Maury O'Dell Place (the second and most westerly street) into the park.

From Interstate 40 take the Harrison Avenue exit (exit 267). Proceed south on Harrison Avenue to Northwest Maynard Road. Turn right and follow Northwest Maynard Road to High House Road. Turn right and proceed west on High House Road. Bond Park will be on your left. The Senior Center is located on Maury O'Dell Place (the second and most westerly street) into the park.

Click here to see our list of Upcoming Train Shows

This is a listing of prototype excursions scheduled in the near future and departing from locations within a few hours drive of the Research Triangle Park area.

There are no excursions currently scheduled for this area Please check back from time to time.

Home page:

http://trainweb.org/cpd13

This Page:

http://trainweb.org/cpd13/news.html

Last Updated:

July 2, 2009

Webmaster:

Robert Rousseau (Email to Rob)

This page and all contents are Copyright 1998–2008 by the Carolina Piedmont Division 13, NMRA MER.
(CPD13 is a Not-For-Profit Corporation incorporated in North Carolina.)
The various logos and heralds shown here are the property of their respective organizations.