Chapter Meeting Minutes

The following items describe the agenda, Attendees and minutes of our recent monthly chapter meetings. Chapter meetings occur generally on the third Saturday of each month when the chapter does not otherwise participate at a public train show. Where voting was required by the general membership on a particular item, results of the vote are generally presented. Only chapter members in good standing are permitted to vote.

Saturday, April 20, 2024

The April meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Saturday, April 20, 2024 at the home of Jeff and Chris Koellmer in Bedford, NH and on Zoom. The meeting convened at 10:30 AM. Those in attendance: Jeff Koellmer, Richard Howell, Joey Lochiatto, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Peter Manz, Jeff Pritchard, Al Thompson, Phil Katz, Bill Young, Otto Lies, Ed Davis, Gordon Young, Mark Keigwin, Roger Williams, Justin Maguire, Zeke Sampson, Brian LeBlanc, Brett LeBlanc, Eion Gibson, Robert DiPietro, Ralph English, and Michael Haire.

President’s Report:

Jeff reminded everyone that the chapter is looking for a new Educational Program Manager and a new Webmaster. There are candidates for each position.

Nominations for chapter officer positions are to be made at the upcoming May chapter meeting. All current officers have agreed to stand for election to serve another annual term. Please consider nominating yourself or another member for any of the elected officer positions.

Jeff prefers in-person meetings and encourages other members to consider hosting a chapter meeting. Seeing other member’s layouts at in-person meetings serves to encourage others in the hobby and is an opportunity to learn from others. Jeff suggests to those concerned with not being able to accommodate the number of members attending, that a limit can be established for in-person attendance, and Zoom can be used for others who wish to attend.

National ETE has raised concerns about losing membership. Some chapters have started a service award program to encourage members to remain in their respective chapter. As part of this program, members are presented plaques or certificates who reach certain membership milestones. Consensus among those attending was that our chapter did not need to implement such a program.

A trustee of the Collings Foundation, which operates the American Heritage Museum in Stow, Massachusetts, has offered to host a summer gathering for the chapter. The museum consists of 3 exhibitions: antique autos, vintage aircraft, and military armor vehicles. The trustee, Mike Manning, proposed to Paul Bergman an itinerary for the visit: escorted tours of each collection, time for lunch (boxed or catered), and a period of breakaway touring on our own. The museum is open until 5 PM and the admission cost is $20. There was much interest expressed in this activity. It was agreed to pursue this activity and to schedule it for either July or August. Action: Paul was asked to pursue further arrangements for this visit.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): The chapter is in a strong financial position.

Membership Report (Ed Davis): Ed Davis reported that there are 70 members of the chapter. The chapter welcomes the following new members:

Eoin Gibson
Robert DiPietro

Ed is looking for more feedback from members on activities and programs that the chapter can offer. Further discussion on this topic is summarized below.

Ed recognizes that further improvement is needed in the membership renewal process: earlier start to the process and establishing a hard deadline for responses.

The chapter has no more National ETE flyers for distribution at train shows. Action: Ed will reach out to the national organization to obtain a new supply of flyers.

Layout Manager (Paul Bergman): A work space is needed for layout repairs this summer. John Cabot has offered to discuss with his brother about the possibility of using the Ipswich space for summer maintenance work on the layout. If it is not possible to use the Ipswich space, John Cabot may have another option. Repairs needed: catenary repairs and a section of dead track in the main station area. Some work is needed on alignment of track at joints between modules.

Mike Haire plans to undertake the assembly of the Bran castle this year, and plans to start the work shortly. Olaf Bodamer and John McClain has volunteered to help with its assembly. Mark Keigwin has also volunteered to help. Other volunteers are welcome as this is an opportunity to contribute to the improvement of the layout and a learning opportunity for anyone interested in building kit assembly. At this point it is likely that the work will be done at Mike’s home in Randolph, MA. If it is possible to break up the work into distinct and separate parts, portions of the castle may be assembled in other locations and this possibility will be evaluated during the initial work session. The castle will be located on the “A” module, or end loop. This location was the consensus choice of members who attended the Boxboro show this past October, when the castle mockup was used to test various locations. It is understood that the finished castle will not fit into the trailer, so a storage box must be constructed for it and it needs to be entrusted to someone for storage and for transport to shows.

Some work is necessary to the existing scenery on the “A” module to incorporate the castle into this existing module and to allow for coherent scenery when the castle is not available for a train show. It has not yet been decided where this work on the “A” module will be performed. Volunteers are needed to perform this scenery work and, if interested, please contact Mike at mkhaire@comcast.net. Here is another opportunity to contribute to the layout and a learning opportunity for anyone interested in scenery construction.

Ed Davis provided an update on the Bergbahn. Ed wants to do an overhaul of the layout sometime during the summer at his home and is looking for volunteers to help. Ed still needs to set up a work space there for the Bergbahn. He is anticipating several work sessions. If interested, contact Ed at ead678@gmail.com..

Train Shows Report: Current status of planned attendance at upcoming train shows:

Model Train and Modeling Show to be held on Sunday, April 21 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Hooksett Cawley Middle School in Hooksett, NH. The Bergbahn layout will be displayed at this show. Jeff Koellmer and Ed Davis plan to attend and welcome other members to help.
Boxboro Show in October, 2024: too soon to apply to attend this show.

Paul has started to work up a proposed space plan for the 2025 ARS show in West Springfield, MA. Space will be requested for:

Chapter layouts (modular layout and Bergbahn)
Children’s Noch layout
Children’s activity area
A seminar area
A British layout from member Gordon Young for the children’s area
A European N-gauge layout from member Zolti Spakovszky
A layout by Mike Leavey
Vendors (Helmut’s Hobbies and Euro Model Trains)
A sales area for member Sal Silvestri

Märklin’s plans for the 2025 show are not known. Action: Paul Bergman will reach out to Märklin to learn of their plans for the 2025 show and to offer them space in our proposed area.

Upon completion of the proposed show plan, Paul intends to use it to justify the chapter’s request for space and to make a presentation to John Sacerdote of Amherst Railway Society.

Collections (Joey Lochiatto): The chapter continues to sell items from its donated collections. There are items remaining for sale, primarily C-track and some building kits. The chapter just received an older Märklin collection and is now in the chapter’s storage unit.

The chapter will need to obtain more long-sleeved oxford shirts, size large (the most popular size).

Mark Keigwin donated two start-up sets to the chapter for the children’s initiatives. The donated sets are Märklin 29852, a 2 train electric starter set, and Märklin 29410, Circus Mondolino.

New Business: Gordon Young requested help with the landscaping of the British-themed children’s layout he has constructed. Gordon hopes that he can get help with this work this summer if he brings it to the chapter’s modular layout work site.

Educational Programs: Zeke Sampson and Ed Davis led a discussion of potential topics for future meeting programs. Zeke provided a list of potential topics (attached) and wanted other members to propose topics of interest to them. Topics suggested were:

Animation of scenes on a layout
Painting figures
Retrofitting passenger cars with lighting and people
Lessons on combined CS2/CS3 operations used on the club layout
How to use the CS2 or CS3
European road signs
Signals
Braking Modules

It was suggested that the membership be surveyed to see what control systems are used.

It was suggested to have hands-on small group workshops using chapter “subject matter experts.”

It was suggested to use the time during show set-ups, typically Friday afternoons, for workshops.

There was consensus agreement to have a presentation at the next chapter meeting, followed by a workshop for interested people. Based on the discussion at this meeting, Zeke will develop an appropriate program on using the Central Station.

Presentation: After lunch, Zeke Sampson made a presentation on Automated Train Operations. The focus of automated train operations is operating two or more trains on the same track without operator intervention. Zeke used his work to develop his current home layout to illustrate some of his points about automated operations. Zeke also cited the resources available for further information. You can view Zeke’s full presentation in the recorded meeting using the link given above. Zeke’s presentation starts at approximately 03:04:00 of the recording.

Upcoming Meetings

May: Saturday, May 18 at 10 AM at the home of Brian, Joyce, and Brett LeBlanc in Woburn, MA
June: Saturday, June 15 at 10 AM at the home of Karl ad Greta Audenaerde in Falmouth, MA
July: To be determined; no meeting is currently scheduled
August: Potential outing to American Heritage Museum in Stow, MA. The chapter typically attends the Concord Model Railroad show in Concord, NH
September: Saturday, September 21 at 10 AM at the home of Lesley Johnson and Joey Lochiatto in York, ME

Pending Actions:

Board to initiate a proposed plan for using the funds that are in excess to the chapter’s operating expenses, to include addressing future trailer needs and costs.

Standing Announcements:

A reminder that the chapter has its own Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting to our Facebook page.
Chapter shirts, hats and jackets are available. If interested in obtaining any chapter clothing please contact Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com

Tuesday,February 20, 2024

The February meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, February 20, 2024 on Zoom. The meeting convened at 7:00 PM. Those in attendance: Jeff Koellmer, Melvyn Crabb, Richard Howell, Joey Lochiatto, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Peter Manz, John Avery, Jeff Pritchard, Al Thompson, Phil Katz, John McClain, Bill Young, John Cabot, Oto Lies, Ed Davis, Gordon Young, Mark Mervine, Peter Bach, Mark Keigwin, Richard Jones, Aidan Lane, Mike Leavey, Sam Green, and Michael Haire.

Presentation: To begin the meeting, Peter Bach made a presentation on “Digital Wiring.” Peter covered a brief history of the development of digital control and presented such topics as how to calculate power needs, the importance of proper dimensioning of digital wires, things to avoid in digital wiring, how a digital signal works, newest innovations in digital wiring, and some tips and tricks. Peter’s full presentation can be seen in the meeting recording, the link for which is given above.

President’s Report:

Jeff provided a summary of the board meeting held on February 13:
The board discussed the West Springfield show and talked about what worked and did not work at the show. The board will look to obtain more space next year for layouts and vendors.
Olaf Bodamer has resigned as the chapter’s Educational Program Manager. The board recognizes the importance of this position and we are looking for someone to take over this position. Anyone interested can contact Jeff Koellmer at jckoellmer@gmail.com or any other board member.
Ed Davis has some ideas to involve new members and has been gathering information on subjects that are of interest to members for future presentations.
There were some issues with controlling the layout at the West Springfield show using the CS3. The board is looking at ways to make the use of the CS2/CS3 easier and more responsive to the operator.
The board is putting together a locomotive tool kit to be able to service locomotives at train shows.
The board is looking at expanding the area where we hold meetings; specifically, holding a near future meeting in Connecticut to engage with members who live there. The board will be looking for a member to host a future meeting there.
Jeff would like to see someone take over the webmaster role. Jeff has served as the chapter webmaster for almost 20 years and he does not feel he has the full range of technical skills needed to upgrade the chapter’s website. The chapter’s website has the potential to provide a lot more support to the chapter if some technically savvy member could act as webmaster. If anyone is interested, please contact Jeff at jckoellmer@gmail.com

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [redacted]

Membership Report (Ed Davis): Ed Davis reported that there have been 68 membership renewals and new members in 2024. There are 8 membership renewals still outstanding. New members for 2024 were welcomed to the chapter:

Sal Silvestri
Mia Lowe
Bill Young
Zolti Spakovszky
Bjorn Zetterlund
Carl Chancey
Name badges were distributed to new members who attended the West Springfield train show as well as replacement badges.

Ed has received some great input from members on strengths and areas of expertise, as well as areas of interest for further learning. This information will allow the chapter to develop future education subjects.

Peter Bach offered to coordinate with Ed on a future topic of interest to the chapter.

Layout Manager (Paul Bergman): No major repairs are anticipated for the layout. The layout ran well during the West Springfield show. Some improvements to the layout are under consideration. Some work is needed on alignment of track at joints between modules.

John Cabot will discuss with his brother about the possibility of using the Ipswich space for summer maintenance work on the layout. If it is not possible to use the Ipswich space, the chapter will need to conduct a search for space to set up the layout this summer for maintenance.

As previously mentioned by Jeff in his report, there were some issues with operators using the CS3 during the West Springfield show. One issue is the difficulty in identifying locomotives running on the layout using the descriptions and icons displayed by the CS2 & CS3. ACTION: Mike Haire will provide a screenshot of the locomotives belonging to each member that are saved in the CS2/CS3 locomotive list and ask them to verify the accuracy of the locomotive name and icon. If incomplete or in error, members will be asked to provide the locomotive manufacturer’s name and item number so that an accurate name and icon can be recorded. Members will also be asked to identify any locomotives that can be deleted from the list so that obsolete items do not clutter the CS3 list.

Mike Haire plans to undertake the assembly of the Bran castle this year, and plans to start the work after the upcoming Wilmington train show. Olaf Bodamer has volunteered to help with its assembly, and John McClain also volunteered his help. Other volunteers are welcome as this is an opportunity to contribute to the improvement of the layout and a learning opportunity for anyone interested in building kit assembly. At this point it is likely that the work will be done at Mike’s home in Randolph, MA. If it is possible to break up the work into distinct and separate parts, portions of the castle may be assembled in other locations and this possibility will be evaluated during the initial work session. The castle will be located on the “A” module, or end loop. This location was the consensus choice of members who attended the Boxboro show this past October, when the castle mockup was used to test various locations. It is understood that the finished castle will not fit into the trailer, so a storage box must be constructed for it and it needs to be entrusted to someone for storage and for transport to shows.

There were several occasions during the West Springfield show when locomotives needed servicing and the necessary materials were not available. The chapter does not have these materials on hand and the board decided at its last meeting to put together a locomotive servicing kit. Joey Lochiatto offered to donate the Märklin 70900 tool kit and Robert Frowenfeld offered to donate lubricating oil, grease, spare traction tires, motor brushes, and bulbs, and the latest Märklin book on CS3 operations (#03093) as a reference for our layout operators. The chapter is most grateful to Joey and Robert for their very generous donations.

Ed Davis provided an update on the Bergbahn. There was some difficulty in operating the Bergbahn at the West Springfield show, mostly caused by loose connections. Several members worked on correcting the problems during the show and, by the end of the show, the layout was operating satisfactorily. Future work anticipated includes rewiring some of the layout and replacing some devices. Ed has provided a new locomotive. Ed wants to do an overhaul of the layout during the off-season and is looking for volunteers to help. If interested, contact Ed at ead678@gmail.com. This work is likely to be done at his home in Enfield, CT. It was requested that the instruction book for the Bergbahn be updated.

Train Shows Report: Current status of planned attendance at upcoming train shows:

Greenberg’s Train and Toy Show: to be held on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24, 2024 at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA.
Model Train and Modeling Show to be held on Sunday, April 21 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Hooksett Cawley Middle School in Hooksett, NH. The Bergbahn layout will be displayed at this show.

The chapter had a much-reduced display area at the recent West Springfield show, which impacted some of the chapter’s planned activities. Paul Bergman is proposing to prepare a presentation to the show’s sponsor, John Sacerdote of the Amherst Railway Society (ARS), to request a larger display area at the 2025 show. Paul will prepare a detailed floor plan to justify the larger space and to make this request before the ARS formulates its 2025 show plan. Paul reports that there are several interested parties who wish to be part of our chapter’s display area:

A European N-gauge layout from member Zolti Spakovszky
A British layout from someone in New Jersey
A sales area for member Sal Silvestri
Additional sales tables for Euro Model Trains
A British layout from member Gordon Young for the children’s area
Helmut’s Hobbies wishes to return next year. There is a question whether Märklin USA would want to be included in our show area. The goal of this effort is to create a strong identity of a Euro East show within the West Springfield show.

Children’s Initiative: The children’s activity area at the West Springfield show was a great success. It was noted that there was a lot of enthusiasm by the children for the zebra search, the train set raffles, operating the various train sets, and making the Faller building kits. Helmut’s Hobbies reported that they sold 5 My World/My Start train sets during the show. The chapter purchased their unsold sets, which are available for future chapter raffles or other children-focused activities. It was noted that these activities have been funded, in part, by proceeds from sales of the items donated by Michael Palfreyman. Michael’s only condition for his donation was that they be used to encourage youth activity in model railroading.

The chapter is bringing its children’s analog layout to the Boston Children’s Hospital on Thursday, February 29 as part of the hospital’s Rare Disease Day activity. This event is being organized by member Olaf Bodamer and runs from 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM in the main lobby of the hospital. John Cabot will bring the layout to the hospital on Thursday morning and is coordinating with Olaf about the details.

Jeff Koellmer is preparing a feature article for a future edition of The ETE Express about the chapter’s children’s initiatives.

Collections (Joey Lochiatto): The chapter continues to sell items from its donated collections. Some sales were made at the West Springfield show and there are items remaining for sale, primarily C-track and some building kits.

New Business: Al Thompson provided a brief description of the Merci train program, which was a donation of 49 freight carloads of gifts by the people of France to the United States in gratitude for the US donation of 700 carloads of donated goods to France in the post-World War II era. One carload of gifts from France was sent to each of the 48 states, with one carload shared by the District of Columbia and the territory of Hawaii. Further information about the merci trains can be found here: www.mercitrain.org. The French freight cars can be found throughout New England at the following locations:

Maine-Boothbay Railway Village, Boothbay, ME
New Hampshire-136 Reed Street, Manchester, NH
New York-Whitesboro, NY (expected to be moved soon)
Rhode Island-Museum of Work & Culture, Woonsocket, RI
Vermont-National Guard Library and Museum, Colchester, VT
Connecticut-destroyed by fire
Massachusetts-scrapped

Al and Richard Filion meet periodically and are planning a visit to the Manchester, NH merci freight car. Anyone interested in joining them for this visit can contact either Al at thompsonakcb@hotmail.com or Richard at rhfilion3@gmail.com for details of the visit.

Upcoming Meetings

April: Saturday, April 20 at 10 AM at the home of Jeff and Chris Koellmer in Bedford, NH
May: Saturday, May 18 at 10 AM at the home of Brian, Joyce, and Brett LeBlanc in Woburn, MA
June: Saturday, June 15 at 10 AM at the home of Karl ad Greta Audenaerde in Falmouth, MA
July: To be determined; no meeting is currently scheduled
August: To be determined; no meeting is currently scheduled. The chapter typically attends the Concord Model Railroad show in Concord, NH
September: Saturday, September 21 at 10 AM at the home of Lesley Johnson and Joey Lochiatto in York, ME

When the business portion of the meeting finished, Ed Davis presented a short video of scenes from the recent West Springfield show.

Pending Actions:

Board to initiate a proposed plan for using the funds that are in excess to the chapter’s operating expenses, to include addressing future trailer needs and costs.

Standing Announcements:

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Saturday, September 16, 2023

Key Items from the meeting:

A volunteer is needed to become the responsible custodian of the Bergbahn: become thoroughly familiar with its operation, keep it in good working order, and potentially store it.

More help is needed in Ipswich, MA on Friday September 29 to load the layout into the trailer for the Boxboro show (only 5 people are signed up and at least 6 people are needed).

Make your hotel reservations now for the Amherst Railway Society show in January

A volunteer is needed to update the content of our chapter website

If you have an opinion about the Bran castle, be sure to attend the Boxboro show on September 30/October 1 to see a mockup of the model

The September meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Saturday, September 16, 2023 at the home of Joey Lochiatto and Lesley Johnson in York, ME and on Zoom. The meeting convened at 10:30 AM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Joey Lochiatto, Lesley Johnson, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Jeff and Chris Koellmer, Brian LeBlanc, Brett LeBlanc, Peter Manz, John Avery, Zeke Sampson, Justin Maguire, Jeff Pritchard, Al Thompson, Ben van der Pluijm, and Michael Haire.

The chapter welcomes new chapter member Ben van der Pluijm, who recently relocated from Ann Arbor, MI to Boston.

Presentation: To begin the meeting, Zeke Sampson made a presentation on “How to Make a Backdrop for Your Model Railroad Layout.” Zeke covered such topics as why have a backdrop and choices for making a backdrop, including buying a commercially available scene, methods to create a custom backdrop from photographs, and hand painting a backdrop. A copy of the slides Zeke used for his presentation can be found in the Useful Presentations page.

President’s Report:

Jeff thanked Joey and Lesley for hosting the meeting in their home in York, ME.
Jeff is in favor of in-person meetings and hopes to improve the quality of meeting presentations and is working with Olaf, our Education Program Manager, to identify and develop topics of relevance to our members.

Jeff noted that chapter property is stored in several members’ homes and not easily accessible to those needing or using it. There is no single list or inventory of chapter-owned property available and there is no effective control of it. Two types of inventory records are suggested: one for chapter-owned items and one for items that are for sale. Joey Lochiatto will take control of the inventory. ACTION: The secretary will initiate a written record of the inventory and work with Paul Bergman, Joey Lochiatto, and others who currently hold chapter property to complete a written record of an inventory of chapter property.
A central storage location is needed. In response to this need, a motion was made and seconded to authorize the board to obtain storage space at a cost of up to $250 per month. The motion passed by a vote of 13 in favor, one opposed. ACTION: Paul Bergman and Joey Lochiatto will work on identifying a location for renting storage space.

It is reported that a chapter-owned locomotive, Märklin #37841, a BR 051 tender locomotive, is not in the chapter’s train box. The secretary will send a chapter-wide message in an attempt to locate it.

The Bergbahn layout was displayed at the recent Concord Model Railroad show (August) and is currently stored in its trailer, which is parked at Jeff’s home in Bedford, NH. Jeff has done some repairs to the Bergbahn since the Concord show; however, the Bergbahn layout needs a custodian who will look after its needs, become fully familiar with its operation, and potentially store it when not in use. ACTION: Any member who is interested in being the responsible custodian of the Bergbahn layout, please contact Jeff Koellmer at jckoellmer@gmail.com

Excess Financial Capital: The board is currently working on a plan for use of the chapter’s funds, including trailer needs.

A question was raised whether bylaw language is needed to authorize disbursement or use of funds not involving a direct expenditure, such as an investment. The treasurer responded that the chapter already authorized the treasurer to make investments at the May, 2023 chapter meeting. Consensus of those at the meeting was that the current methods are working and no further action is necessary.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [redacted]

Membership Report: Ed Davis has prepared a matrix of member interests from member responses during the last renewal effort and it is intended to incorporate these interests in future meeting programs.

Layout Manager (Paul Bergman): Thanks to John Cabot’s efforts, we were able to use his brother’s warehouse space in Ipswich, MA to set up the modular layout for repairs. There is still some work needed to correct a power problem on the A-B module. Other repair work has been completed, including replacing a signal in the station area.

A list of tools needed for a more complete chapter tool box has been created. If all the proposed tools are purchased, the cost is estimated to be approximately $2,250. In lieu of proceeding to purchase tools, the tool list will be put on the Google share drive and members will be asked to donate their excess/unneeded tools.

Train Shows Report (Brian LeBlanc): Current status of planned attendance at train shows during the upcoming season:

Concord Model Railroad Show: held on Sunday, August 20, 2023 at the Everett Arena in Concord, NH. It was reported that about 1,100 people attended the show. The was much interest in our Bergbahn layout and the layout worked well during the show.

Nashua Valley Railroad Association (NVRRA) RailFair 2023: To be held on Saturday and Sunday, September 30 and October 1, 2023 at the Boxboro Regency Hotel in Boxboro, MA. ACTION: See the signup sheet on the Google shared drive at Boxboro Signup Sheet to indicate when you can volunteer to help set up the layout on Friday, September 29, to break it down at the end of the show, and to help operate the layout during the show. We especially need additional help to load up the layout in Ipswich on Friday morning, September 29 at 9:00 AM.

Greenberg’s Train and Toy Show: To be held on Saturday and Sunday, November 18 and 19, 2023 At the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, MA.

New England Model Train Expo: to be held on Saturday, December 2 and Sunday, December 3, 2023 at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, MA. Note that name badges are required for this show, so those planning to attend must sign up in advance in order to get a badge.

Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show: to be held on Saturday, January 27 and Sunday, January 28, 2024 at the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds in West Springfield, MA. ACTION: Please make your hotel reservations now as discounted room rates are limited by time and number of rooms available. See the show’s website at:
https://www.railroadhobbyshow.com/attending-the-show.php#AccommodationsInTheArea for a list of hotels offering reduced rates for the show.

Greenberg’s Train and Toy Show: to be held on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24, 2024 at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA.

New Business:

There was discussion about updating content on the chapter website. For example, there should be content explaining why someone should join our chapter. ACTION: A volunteer is needed to prepare updated content for the website. If interested, please contact Jeff Koellmer at jckoellmer@gmail.com

A suggestion was made to create a layout that could be used for display at senior centers or nursing homes to demonstrate modern methods of train control to retired folks. This suggestion was recognized as a good one, but it was felt that our current layouts give us a full plate of work. We can look at this idea in the future as conditions change.

Joey Lochiatto has volunteered to serve as chapter Quartermaster and will maintain the chapter’s inventory of clothing.

Old Business:

Paul Bergman is a member of the ETE National Board but has been unable to attend their meetings because their meetings, which are held on Saturday afternoons, conflict with Paul’s activities.

There was discussion of how to transport the Märklin globe to shows. It was decided to investigate options, such as renting a van or trailer, or transport it in the bed of a pickup truck. ACTION: Paul Bergman will discuss options with John Cabot.

Mike Haire is leading the effort to build the Bran castle and is looking for volunteers to help with its assembly. A mockup of the castle will be ready for the Boxboro show, where members can evaluate the feasibility of incorporating it into the layout.

Pending Actions:

Chapter President to initiate meeting on planning for Children’s Hospital display.
Board to initiate a proposed plan for using the funds that are in excess to the chapter’s operating expenses, to include addressing future trailer needs and costs.

Standing Announcements:

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Saturday, June 17, 2023

The June meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Saturday, June 17, 2023 at the home of Brian, Joyce, and Brett LeBlanc in Woburn, MA. The meeting convened at 10:00 AM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Robert Frowenfeld, Joey Lochiatto, Lesley Johnson, Paul and AnnMarie Bergman, Richard Filion, Ed Davis, Guy Daubert, Jeff and Chris Koellmer, Peter Bach, Otto and Ulrike Lies, Brian and Joyce LeBlanc, Brett LeBlanc, Mark Mervine, Phil Katz, Peter and Carol Manz, John and Judy Avery, Zeke Sampson, Justin Maguire, David Bisno, Jeff Pritchard, Glenn Fresch, David Fresch, Karl and Dong Wook Audenaerde, Al Thompson, Kristian Beyer, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Election of Chapter Officers: Elections were held for members nominated at the May chapter meeting for chapter officer positions. Results were as follows:

President: Jeff Koellmer – elected unanimously

Corresponding/Recording Secretary: Michael Haire – elected unanimously

Membership Secretary: Ed Davis– elected unanimously

Treasurer: Guy Daubert– elected unanimously

Train Show Coordinator: Brian LeBlanc– elected unanimously

Education Program Manager: Olaf Bodamer– elected unanimously

Collections Manager: Joey Lochiatto– elected unanimously

Layout Manager: Paul Bergman– elected unanimously

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [Redacted]

Question was raised about whether the chapter pays to exhibit its layout at train shows. In response, the chapter has paid for sales tables to sell donated items to raise funds for the chapter. Funds raised in this manner far exceed the cost of purchasing sales tables.

Point raised that without proceeds for sales the chapter expenses exceed its income. In this context, the chapter should consider an increase in dues. The board has considered this situation and is studying future financial needs of the chapter. A projection of the chapter’s financial needs depends upon results from the search for space to rent for module maintenance, storage, and a potential clubhouse.

Also discussed was whether the chapter’s board is making decisions about how to use the chapter’s funds without membership approval. The response is that no action has been taken, no motion made, and no plan concluded about how to use the chapter’s funds. The treasurer has recently prepared an initial draft of a 10-year financial plan and has submitted it to the board for consideration. The secretary has it available at this meeting for review by any member with an interest in what the treasurer has proposed. The board has not yet met to discuss the draft plan and prepare it for consideration by the membership. It was also pointed out that all members are notified in advance of board meetings and are welcome to listen in during these meetings; the board’s business is open and transparent to the chapter.

Question was raised about whether the chapter has any rules governing how to control small expenditures, given that a vote of the membership is only required by the bylaws when an expense exceeds $500. It was pointed out that the treasurer’s monthly written reports include descriptions of all expenses and the treasurer’s report is included with meeting minutes. This report provides the board and all members information to monitor all chapter spending.

Motion made and seconded to increase chapter dues by a percentage to be determined by the treasurer to take care of the discrepancy between annual chapter income and expenses. Based on the treasurer’s data, the current discrepancy is $500 without consideration of income from sales. After discussion, the motion was withdrawn by the petitioners.

Train Shows Report (Brian LeBlanc): Current status of planned attendance at train shows during the upcoming season:

Concord Model Railroad Show: To be held on Sunday, August 20, 2023 at the Everett Arena in Concord, NH. Jeff Koellmer, John Avery, and Peter Manz committed to attend the show to represent the chapter.
Nashua Valley Railroad Association (NVRA) RailFair 2023: To be held on Saturday and Sunday, September 30 and October 1, 2023 at the Boxboro Regency Hotel in Boxboro, MA. The chapter has not committed to attend this show. Paul Bergman has received the application documents from the NVRA and will coordinate with Brian on the response.
Greenberg’s Train and Toy Show: To be held on Saturday and Sunday, November 18 and 19, 2023 At the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. Brian has just received the paperwork to apply to attend this show.

Layout Manager (Paul Bergman): Paul is still actively looking for rental space for use by the chapter in the Haverhill area and is looking at 2 specific areas. No results yet to report.

New Business:

Request made for the chapter to obtain a locomotive with an updated decoder with sound; current chapter-owned locomotives have basic decoders without sound and other operational features. Motion made to purchase a 4h (German steam) locomotive with an mfx decoder from member David Bisno at a cost of $216. Motion failed for lack of a second.
Mike Haire will be leading the effort to build the Bran castle and is looking for volunteers to help with its assembly. The first step will be building a mockup of the model to study how to incorporate it into the layout. Work will likely need to be done at Mike’s home if the chapter is unable to find chapter space.
Old Business: If anyone did not receive their 50th anniversary pin from ETE national, please advise the secretary.

Upcoming meetings:

September 16: Chapter meeting on Saturday, September 16 at the home of Joey Lochiatto and Lesley Johnson in York, Maine.
October 21: Chapter meeting on Saturday, October 21 at the home of Olaf and Christina Bodamer in Dedham, MA.

Pending Actions:

Chapter President to initiate meeting on planning for Children’s Hospital display.
Board to identify a storage space to rent.
Board to initiate a proposed plan for using the funds that are in excess to the chapter’s operating expenses, to include addressing future trailer needs and costs.

Standing Announcements:

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

To All Members of ETE-ENE,

The May meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Robert Frowenfeld, Joey Lochiatto, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Ed Davis, Guy Daubert, Jeff Koellmer, John Cabot, Alex Leonard, Peter Bach, Otto Lies, Brian LeBlanc, Mark Mervine, Phil Katz, John Drake, Aidan Lane, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Nominations for Chapter Officers: Nominations were made for chapter officers to serve from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. Current president Richard Howell is resigning and is relocating to Nova Scotia in July, 2023. Nominations for President:

Jeff Koellmer

Joey Lochiatto (respectfully declined nomination)

No other nominations were made and no other member not currently serving as an officer expressed interest in being nominated. Officers currently serving and present at this meeting expressed willingness to continue to serve in their office. Current officers are:

Corresponding/Recording Secretary: Michael Haire

Membership Secretary: Ed Davis

Treasurer: Guy Daubert

Train Show Coordinator: Brian LeBlanc

Education Program Manager: Olaf Bodamer

Collections Manager: Joey Lochiatto

Layout Manager: Paul Bergman

Note: Elections for chapter officers will be held at the chapter meeting on Saturday, June 17.

Meeting Program: Robert Frowenfeld discussed several interesting products currently in the marketplace: ESU LokSound and LokPilot decoders, including the ESU “MKL” decoders; ESU decoder tester; decoders with the 21 pin and the PluX22 hardware interfaces; comparison of 8 pin vs. 21 pin connections for decoders; the ESU sound only decoder; issues involving upgrades of Märklin locomotive motors. Robert also answered questions from members.

Here is the link to Robert’s web page with information on the parts needed to convert a Märklin analog locomotive motor to a DC motor when converting to digital operation:

http://www.rjftrains.com/technical/60904.htm

Please note that this chart is ONLY for a limited number of the older analog locomotives, and ONLY for those that originally came with a large flat commutator (armature). These require the 60944-motor kit for converting to digital. Other (older) locomotives came with a small flat armature, and these require the 60943-motor kit for conversion. Finally, the “newer” analog locomotives — those with the rectangular brushes — use the 60941-motor kit for conversion.

Robert is happy to advise anyone on which motor kit is required, and he always has a good inventory of same, along with brushes, pickup shoes, bulbs and, of course, ESU decoders.

Robert’s full presentation can be viewed near the beginning of the recorded meeting (at approximately minute 10:00) at the link given above and runs approximately 50 minutes.

President’s Report:

Upcoming meetings:
June 17: Chapter meeting on Saturday, June 17 at 10 AM at the home of Brian, Joyce, and Brett Leblanc in Woburn, MA. Members are invited to bring their favorite European beer and New York bagels to the meeting.
July: Possible excursion to Cog Railway at Mount Washington, to be determined.
August: To be determined.
September 16: Chapter meeting on Saturday, September 16 at the home of Joey Lochiatto and Lesley Johnson in York, Maine.
October 21: Chapter meeting on Saturday, October 21 at the home of Olaf and Christina Bodamer in Dedham, MA.

Membership Secretary Report (Ed Davis): There are currently 72 members and 6 associate members. There are 2 potential new members.

Ed presented a summary of member interests that he gathered during the membership renewal process. The data included topics that members wish to learn more about and topics that members have a strength. The survey results address 23 topics. It was noted that the topics break down into 2 general areas: digital subjects and landscaping subjects. The detailed information presented during the meeting is attached to these minutes.

It was also noted that there is a lot of information on YouTube on topics of interest to model railroaders, including information that is common to both European and American model railroading. For example, weathering of boxcars was recently demonstrated on a YouTube video:

There is also interest in 3-D printing. There may be an ETE member (or 2) in California with some experience in 3-D printing that could be asked to make a presentation to the chapter.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [partly redacted]

The treasurer notes that most revenue to the chapter this year is from the sale of donated collections. However, the treasurer notes that if the income from sales of donated items is excluded, the chapter’s other revenue covered only 80% of the chapter’s expenses during the year. This factor should be considered in future years.

The treasurer rolled over a maturing CD at TD Bank into a new 6-month CD at TD Bank at an interest rate of 4.25%.

Pending Actions:

Standing Announcements:

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretar

Saturday, April 22, 2023

The April meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at the home of Jeff and Chris Koellmer in Bedford, NH. The meeting convened at 10:00 AM. The meeting was also broadcast on Zoom. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Joey Lochiatto, Lesley Johnson, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Ed Davis, Guy Daubert (Zoom), Jeff and Chris Koellmer, John Cabot, Peter and Carol Manz, John and Judy Avery, Jeff Pritchard, Otto and Ulrike Lies, Brian LeBlanc, Roman Wajer, Justin Maguire, David and Sarah Fresch, Kurt Hilse, Dylan Hilse, Olaf and Christina Bodamer, Mark Keigwin, Al Thompson, Phil Katz (Zoom), and Michael Haire.

The following is a summary of the activities;

Meeting Program: Jeff Koellmer discussed his use of the computer software program iTrain which he uses to control trains on his home layout. The program is from the Netherlands and is available to purchase on-line; a trial license is available that allows free use for 60 days to try it out. There is a very active users group to help new users and there are downloadable users manuals available (in 5 languages). After the business meeting Jeff demonstrated how he uses the various feature of iTrain to control his layout. Jeff’s initial presentation starts at about minute 8:00 of the meeting recording and runs until approximately minute 43:00. Guy Daubert reported that he purchased iTrain based on Jeff Koellmer’s recommendation and finds it to be excellent. Guy brought attention to the fact that there is a very well-done tutorial on You Tube for iTrain.

After Jeff’s presentation, Jeff Pritchard brought 3 framed 13” x 19” photos of European rolling stock that Jeff took during his trips to Germany. Jeff printed the photos on his own photo printer. These photos showed an incredible level of detail even at the enlarged format. For further information please contact Jeff at jeffpritchard@mac.com

President’s Report:

Richard reports that he will be stepping down as President after this meeting due to his pending move to Halifax, NS. He is asking for a volunteer to run the May meeting and to take over his duties until a new President is elected at the June meeting. Jeff Koellmer volunteered to step in as interim president and indicated his willingness to accept nomination as President for the following year.

Nominations for chapter officers to serve for one year (July 2023 to June 2024) will be accepted at the May chapter meeting (on May 20).

Upcoming meetings:

May 20: Chapter meeting on Saturday, May 20 at the home of Karl and Greta Audenaerde in Falmouth, MA
June 17: Chapter meeting on Saturday, June 17 at the home of Brian, Joyce, and Brett Leblanc in Woburn, MA
July: Possible excursion to Cog Railway at Mount Washington, to be determined.
August: To be determined.
September 16: Chapter meeting on Saturday, September 16 at the home of Joey Lochiatto and Lesley Johnson in York, Maine.
October 21: Chapter meeting on Saturday, October 21 at the home of Olaf and Christina Bodamer in Dedham, MA.

The Bergbahn is at its new temporary home with John Cabot. Club clothing and other chapter materials that were in Richard’s home have been placed in the Bergbahn trailer.

Olaf and Mike Haire volunteered to assemble starter sets from remaining track and rolling stock. Brian LeBlanc has the remaining unsold locomotives and will arrange with Mike Haire to turn them over to him. Brian advises that track will need to be cleaned. Brian also offered to help with testing of the locomotives. Controllers will need to be purchased by the chapter to make operational starter sets. Paul has 5 sections of track item 24088 for connecting a mobile station to the layout and can make them available for possible starter sets.

Discussion about locomotives currently owned by the chapter and used on the show layout. It was noted that these locomotives generally have older decoders with limited functions. Suggested that the decoders on these locomotives be upgraded to the current version of ESU decoders (Lok Sound version 5). The upgrade could be the subject of a demonstration at a future meeting.

Märklin Days (September 2023): no further information available.

Plans for layout memorial to deceased members: no action taken.

Policy for Reimbursement for Towing the Chapter’s Trailers: A policy has been prepared by the board and will be distributed to chapter members by the secretary.

Trailer: John Cabot was authorized at the chapter meeting of March 21 to spend up to $1,000 to inspect and service both chapter trailers and to replace the 4 tires on the module trailer. Pending Action: John will proceed with trailer work and will coordinate with Paul Bergman to tow the trailers to the service facility.

Richard noted that whoever borrowed the chapter’s spare CS2 should return it to Mike Haire,

Membership Secretary Report: The membership renewal effort is still ongoing. The treasurer has received 2023 membership fees for 64 members.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [partically redacted]. The treasurer requests authorization to re-invest maturing CDs and securities in short term investments that are most advantageous at the time. Motion was made and seconded to authorize the treasurer to re-invest maturing securities and Bank CDs in new short-term investments with maturities not to exceed one year and to select the investment vehicle that, in the treasurer’s judgment, makes the most sense. Motion passed unanimously.

The treasurer has responded to previous discussion about tax implications of chapter activities by providing a copy of chapter input he has prepared for the national ETE tax return and page 1 of national ETE’s 2022 tax return (IRS Form 990-EZ). National ETE is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization for income tax purposes. These documents are attached to these minutes.

Modules (Paul Bergman):

Layout is operating very well as a result of work done over the summer at the Essex Street location in Haverhill and has performed well at the recent train shows.
Justin informed all present that he has one section of the modular layout, module A-B, at his home for repairs. Please note that the layout in the trailer is therefore not complete.
The Essex Street space will not be available any longer; the building owner reports that the building is under agreement for a pending sale.
With the loss of the Essex Street space, discussion was held on ideas/options for module maintenance space and possible clubhouse space. Ideas included:
Follow up with Wayland Historical Society about Freight House
A storage facility
Available space in churches
Space in abandoned/empty schools and other municipal space
Empty storefronts/shopping center space
Contact realtors to get sense of current market for space
Brian LeBlanc volunteered to be the chapter’s point person for identifying the chapter’s needs for space and how to proceed with finding such space.

Education Program:

Childrens Hospital Display: hospital is looking for some means to prevent children from grabbing items off the layout and would prefer a Plexiglas barrier. Legal staff at the hospital have liability concerns. There is alternate space in a nearby building that could be used, but is across the street from the main hospital and would not provide much visitor traffic for the layout.

Members Voice:

It was suggested that future chapter dues should be cut in half, given the excellent financial condition of the chapter. Motion was made and seconded to do so. Discussion pointed out the chapter’s interest in finding a clubhouse and the unknown expense of supporting it. The Nashua Valley club has a clubhouse and members pay $360 per year in dues and has no trouble attracting members, and an O Scale club with a clubhouse in Wilmington had dues of $420 per year, which gives an indication of potential expense of supporting a clubhouse. Further discussion suggested that no action should be taken on reducing dues until there is more clarity on chapter’s ability to obtain space for module maintenance /clubhouse. No vote was taken.

Old Business:

20th Anniversary Pin: No action reported.
Dracula’s Castle: If any member is interested in participating in a working group to build the castle and develop a plan to incorporate it into the modular layout, please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com

Pending Actions:

Chapter President to initiate meeting on planning for Children’s Hospital display.
Board to identify a storage space to rent after the West Springfield train show in January.
Board to initiate a proposed plan for using the funds that are in excess to the chapter’s operating expenses.

Standing Announcements:

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

The March meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Joey Lochiatto, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Ed Davis, Guy Daubert, Jeff Koellmer, John Cabot, Peter Manz, John Avery, Jeff Pritchard, Alex Leonard, Mike Chesla, Peter Bach, Otto Lies, Ralph English, Brian LeBlanc, Ed Baronowski, Mark Mervine, Roman Wajer, Mike Leavey, Karl Audenaerde, Chuck Ashworth, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Meeting Program: Peter Bach started the meeting with a demonstration of how to make freight car loads. First, he demonstrated a crushed auto carload, then an Italian marble carload, a pulpwood carload, wheel set carload, cable roll carload, and others. Peter’s full presentation can be viewed near the beginning of the recorded meeting (at approximately minute 3:00) at the link given above and runs approximately 30 minutes.

President’s Report:

Upcoming meetings:
April 22: Chapter meeting on Saturday, April 22 at the home of Jeff and Chris Koellmer in Bedford, NH.
May 20: Chapter meeting on Saturday, May 20 at the home of Karl and Greta Audenaerde in Falmouth, MA
June 17: Chapter meeting on Saturday, June 17 at the home of Brian, Joyce, and Brett Leblanc in Woburn, MA
July: Possible excursion to Cog Railway at Mount Washington, to be determined.
August: Possible chapter meeting at 145 Essex Street, Haverhill, MA (if rented); to be determined.
September 16: Chapter meeting on Saturday, September 16 at the home of Joey Lochiatto and Lesley Johnson in York, Maine.
October 21: Chapter meeting on Saturday, October 21 at the home of Olaf and Christina Bodamer in Dedham, MA.

No board meetings have been held recently, so nothing to report there.

Bergbahn: Richard plans to move to Nova Scotia in July and Richard needs to move the Bergbahn trailer out of his driveway by the end of April. A home is needed for the trailer. John Cabot agreed to store the trailer with the modules trailer in Ipswich, MA and Richard will tow it to Ipswich.

Fire Sale: Sold $1,262 worth of the remaining donated items during the recent fire sale. Only 1 box of items remains.

Olaf and Mike Haire volunteered to assemble starter sets from remaining track and rolling stock. Brian advises that track will need to be cleaned. Brian also offered to help with testing of the locomotives. Controllers will need to be purchased by the chapter to make operational starter sets. Paul has 5 sections of track item 24088 for connecting a mobile station to the layout and can make them available for possible starter sets.

Trailer: John recommends that both trailers have a safety inspection and service this year and that the 4 tires on the module trailer be replaced due to their age. The tires were last replaced in 2015. John provided a rough estimate of $1,000 for the cost of the inspection, service, and tire replacement. John proposes to have this work performed this summer. John also suggested that the grease fittings on the hinges on the rear doors of the module trailer be replaced and John said that he would do this work at no cost to the chapter. He would also like to add LED lighting, solar or battery powered, for the interior of the trailer. John would like to purchase a ramp for use in changing trailer tires; estimated cost is $50. Also consider sandblast and rustproof the frame of the module trailer. John reports that wrapping the trailer with the chapter logo was suggested and John has received an offer of an anonymous donation to help pay for this work.
Motion made and seconded to authorize John Cabot to spend up to $1,000 for inspection and service of both trailers and to replace the 4 tires on the module trailer. Motion passed unanimously on a voice vote.

Action: John will proceed with trailer work and will coordinate with Paul Bergman to tow the trailers to the service facility.

Membership Secretary Report: Current membership is 73 members. Three renewals remain and outreach to these individuals is underway.

We welcome new member Richard Jones. Also, Ed Guenther transferred from the Upstate New York chapter.

Ed Davis is proposing a chapter excursion to the Cog Railway at Mount Washington this summer. Ed will coordinate with the Cog Railway to identify possible weekends for this trip and coordinate with the secretary to circulate the proposal to the chapter.

There is quite a lot of interest in the topics that were polled during membership renewal, as well as subjects in which members have strengths. Action: Ed will prepare a summary of those topics of interest to members and member strengths for discussion at the next meeting.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [redacted]

Train Shows: Greenberg’s Great Train and Toy Show at the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, MA: The show will be held on Saturday, March 25 and Sunday, March 26 and will be the last show of the season. Set up will be on Friday March 24. Six sales tables have been ordered. The link for the signup sheet has been distributed and a glitch in posting to the signup sheet has been fixed.

Modules (Paul Bergman):

Layout is operating very well as a result of work done over the summer at the Essex Street location in Haverhill and has performed well at the recent train shows.
No plans yet for summer quarters for the layout at Essex Street in Haverhill. Consensus of those attending this meeting agreed to rent space this summer for module maintenance. Needed repairs have been recorded in a notebook that is kept with the layout and updated at each show.
Action: Paul will ask to rent the Essex Street space for 4 months (June through September) and advise the chapter at the next meeting.

Paul showed photos of his restoration of the Märklin globe that was obtained from Barry Kriegsman. His work included the construction of a carrying case for the globe. The overall dimensions of the completed case with the globe inside is 31 inches by 31 inches by 42 inches high and weighs 80 pounds. The case can be used as a stand to display the globe. Paul is looking for a volunteer to take possession of the globe and case and to transport it to selected chapter events. Action: Richard will check the dimensions of the Bergbahn trailer to determine if it will fit in this trailer, and John will check the dimensions inside the module trailer to determine if there is space for it.

Old Business:

ARS Outreach Program: Nothing has been heard from the Amherst Railway Society since the initial meeting.
20th Anniversary Pin: No action reported.
Dracula’s Castle: If any member is interested in participating in a working group to build the castle and develop a plan to incorporate it into the modular layout, please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com
Märklin Days 2023: No update to report

Pending Actions:

Chapter President to initiate meeting on planning for Children’s Hospital display.
The board is preparing a policy for reimbursing a member who tows the chapter’s trailer to a club event.
The board will develop a recommendation on how to address future trailer needs and costs.
Board to identify a storage space to rent after the West Springfield train show in January.
Paul will ask the Essex Street, Haverhill building owner about yearlong rental of the space when the train show season ends.
Board to initiate a proposed plan for using the funds that are in excess to the chapter’s operating expenses.

Standing Announcements:

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

The February meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Joey Lochiatto, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Jeff Koellmer, Al Thompson, John Cabot, Peter Manz, John Avery, Jeff Pritchard, Alex Leonard, Mike Chesla, Peter Bach, Otto Lies, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Meeting Program: Peter Bach started the meeting with a demonstration of how to use WinTrack to plan catenary and flex track on a layout. Peter also demonstrated how he planned his home layout using WinTrack and a model. Peter’s full presentation can be viewed near the beginning of the recorded meeting (at approximately minute 8:30) at the link given above.

President’s Report:

Upcoming meetings:
Chapter meeting on Tuesday, March 21 (Tuesday) on Zoom with another presentation by Peter Bach.
Greenberg Train Show in Wilmington, MA on March 25-26, 2023.
No board meetings have been held recently, so nothing to report there.

Membership Secretary Report: Membership renewal has been very successful, with 71 confirmed renewals and new members. Several renewals remain and outreach to these individuals is underway.

We welcome the following returning members and new members:

Shre Thammana (returning member)
Bob Butler (new member)
Lindsay Turner (new member)
Aidan Lane (new member)
Konrad Malkowski (new member)

A great set of input on member interests, strengths, and areas of expertise was obtained from the recent membership renewal effort. A matrix is being prepared for review and activity planning.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [Account balances redacted]

The treasurer requests approval to invest $5,000 from the checking account in additional T-bills. This action will leave approximately $3,700 available for ongoing chapter expenses. No extraordinary expenses are anticipated. The interest on T-bills is approximately 4%. Motion made and seconded to authorize the treasurer to invest $5,000 from the checking account in T-Bills. Motion approved by voice vote.

Collections (Joey Lochiatto):

There is now a plan to auction the remaining donated items of rolling stock at reduced starting prices. Approximately 4 boxes of donated items remain.
There are still approximately 1800 pieces of C-track available.
There was a suggestion to assemble train sets with the remaining rolling stock and track. The chapter could purchase power supplies and controllers to assemble compete sets, then raffle off these sets to youth. No further action was taken.

Train Shows: Greenberg’s Great Train and Toy Show at the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, MA: The show will be held on Saturday, March 25 and Sunday, March 26 and will be the last show of the season. Set up will be on Friday March 24. To be confirmed is whether any sales tables have been ordered. Further information will be provided later.

Modules (Paul Bergman):

Layout is operating very well as a result of work done over the summer at the Essex Street location in Haverhill and has performed well at the recent train shows.
No plans yet for summer quarters for the layout at Essex Street in Haverhill.
John Cabot noted the need for a safety inspection of the trailer this year and possible replacement of the tires. Action: John Cabot will prepare a list of work and estimated cost for trailer maintenance for presentation and approval at a future meeting.

Programs: No update on plans to exhibit the layout at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Members Voice: Comment submitted about why the board changed the time of meeting presentations from the end of meetings to the start of meetings. Richard responded that he received only one response to the original suggestion to change presentations to the beginning of meetings, and this response was in favor of doing so. Also noted was the advantage to the presenter of presenting earlier in the evening and being less tired.

Old Business:

Pending Actions:

Standing Announcements:

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

To All Members of ETE-ENE,

The December meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Joey Lochiatto, Ed Davis, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Jeff Koellmer, Al Thompson, John Cabot, Justin Maguire, Peter Manz, Karl Audenaerde, John Avery, Jeff Pritchard, Melvyn Crabb, Kristian Beyer, Phil Katz, Roman Wajer, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Meeting Program: Since the last meeting, Richard received feedback to hold the meeting program at the beginning of chapter meetings. Consequently, Justin Maguire started the meeting with his presentation of “A Tale of Two Viaducts.” Justin described his work to build 2 H0 model viaducts for a layout being built by Zeke Sampson for an ETE member in Pennsylvania. The first viaduct was a single track, curved, multi-span structure that Justin kit-bashed using multiple sets of a Kibri model of a stone arch bridge. The second viaduct was a double-track, curved, multi-span structure that Justin scratch built. The famous Thomas Viaduct on the B&O railroad, located in Maryland, served as the model for the second viaduct. Justin’s full presentation can be viewed near the beginning of the recorded meeting (at approximately minute 16) at the link given above.

President’s Report:

Upcoming meetings:
Board meeting on Monday, January 9 (now changed to January 10) on Zoom
Chapter meeting on Tuesday, January 24 (Tuesday) on Zoom

Richard plans to hold a board meeting in January to discuss plans for the upcoming Springfield train show. Recordings of recent board meetings are available, but all are warned that the meetings are long and boring. Richard provided a summary of recent board discussions about chapter needs and goals over the next 5 to 10 years:

Trailer: not likely to need replacement in 8-10 years. The board will look at how to fund repairs and replacement in the long term.

Outreach: Look to improve on audience engagement at train shows, using layout “ambassadors” to talk to the public. Members are encouraged to roam the outside of the layout and talk with visitors. The club should also look at adding interactive elements on the layout, such as what Olaf recently did with using Zebras on the layout to increase public engagement. Parent and child activities were discussed. Kit building at the recent Marlborough show was a great success and there are plans to do the same at the Springfield show. Märklin Starter Sets will be available at the upcoming Springfield show.

Layout: Not likely to replace the entire layout within the next 8-10 years. Work sessions at the Essex Street space in Haverhill have been valuable to maintain the layout and as a learning experience for members. Future improvements that are anticipated include replacing the module originally built by Mike dePunte and creating a memorial to and celebration of former members in its place.

Addition of the Bram (Dracula) castle to the layout is also anticipated soon. It was suggested that the chapter show how simple a layout can be assembled to overcome a perception that model train layouts are too complex to understand. Demonstrating a starter set could accomplish this goal. It was also suggested that adding sound and motion to the layout would address more interaction.

Any members with suggestions to improve the layout can send their comments to Richard Howell and discuss them further at the Springfield show.
Storage needs will be assessed after the Springfield show, when the collection of donated items has been further reduced through sales.
A search for a clubhouse continues. The engine shed in Lowell, MA has been suggested. Olaf has offered to prepare a proposal to the Wayland Historical Society about how the chapter would use the Wayland Freight House.
Feedback on Marlborough Show: Comments were received that there were too many sales tables around the layout at the Marlborough show, which overwhelmed the layout. Focus of the chapter area at future train shows should be on the layout.
Outreach to youth will be a major focus of the upcoming Springfield show. The chapter plans to purchase an ad in the show’s brochure to draw attention to outreach activities in the chapter area. Activities will include parent/child model building that was so successful at the Marlborough show and display of multiple Märklin starter sets. Plans will be further discussed at the next chapter board meeting on January 9 (now changed to January 10).
It is suggested that the chapter reduce the dues for youth and parent/child teams who join. One suggestion is to create a junior fee of $10 for those under age 25. Another suggestion is to waive the dues for a child (under 18) whose parent joins the chapter (also called a Family Membership). It was noted that the chapter currently has an associate member class with dues of $25 per year. A more specific proposal will be discussed at the next board meeting and presented at a future meeting.

Membership Secretary Report (Ed Davis): Membership renewal notices were sent out on or about December 19 & 20. Some members stated at the meeting that their notices have not yet been received. An update on membership renewals will be discussed at the next board meeting.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [redacted]

The treasurer asks for approval to purchase future financial instruments with maturities in the range of 1 month to 12 months for investment of excess cash. Motion made and seconded to allow the treasurer to do so; approved by voice vote.

Train Shows: The Amherst Railway Society Model Railroad Show in West Springfield, MA: The show will be held on Saturday, January 28 and Sunday, January 29. Set up will be on Friday January 27. John Cabot plans to bring the trailer to the show on Thursday, January 26 and asks for help to unload the trailer on Thursday. He hopes that, by arriving early, he will be able to park the trailer indoors in the Mallary Building.

Modules (Paul Bergman): Layout is operating very well as a result of work done over the summer at the Essex Street location in Haverhill and has performed well at the recent train shows.

Collections (Joey Lochiatto):

Unboxed locomotives included in the donated Waltham collection are being checked to determine if they are operational. Richard Howell is doing the work to check them.
Additional C-track is expected to be sold soon to a chapter member.

Members Voice: Otto Lies, who could not attend this meeting due to a schedule conflict, offered the following comments in writing:

Sales tables: Asking whether there will be a sales table that members can place a few items for sale at the Springfield show. Also, concern about vendor sales tables being associated with the chapter that could lead to a sales tax liability. The President’s response was to discuss these issues at the upcoming board meeting.
It appears that the CS3 is overloaded with (locomotive) entries. The secretary responded that he regularly purges those locomotives from the CS3 library that are not labeled as belonging to a member. There have also been specific observations that members will bring a locomotive to a show that had been saved in the library several years before. (It should also be noted that the CS3 has a large memory capacity, that each locomotive has in its first 2 or 3 characters of its title the initials of its owner, which allows the CS3 user to rapidly search for a certain locomotive using the CS3’s search function.)

Old Business:

Pending Actions:

John Cabot will reach out to the Keystone and NY chapters to determine their interest in participating in Euro East at the West Springfield show.
Paul will contact Helmut’s Hobbies to ask if they have plans to attend the West Springfield show again this year. Paul will also reach out to ROCO, Hatton’s, and Jim Geratowski about their plans for the show.
Train Show Coordinator to follow up with Greenberg show organizer about issues with the location of the chapter’s layout at their show.
Chapter President to initiate meeting on planning for Children’s Hospital display.
The board is preparing a policy for reimbursing a member who tows the chapter’s trailer to a club event.
The board will develop a recommendation on how to address future trailer needs and costs.
Board to identify a storage space to rent after the West Springfield train show in January.
Paul will ask the Essex Street, Haverhill building owner about yearlong rental of the space when the train show season ends.
Board to initiate a proposed plan for using the funds that are in excess to the chapter’s operating expenses.

Standing Announcements:

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

The November meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, November 22, 2022 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Joey Lochiatto, Ed Davis, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Olaf Bodamer, Peter Bach, Alex Leonard, Jeff Koellmer, Al Thompson, Mark Mervine, John Cabot, Justin Maguire, Peter Manz, Karl Audenaerde, John Avery, Jerry Eves, Otto Lies, Jeff Pritchard, Zeke Sampson, Mike Leavey, Kurt Hilse, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

President’s Report:

Upcoming chapter meetings;
December 27 (Tuesday) on Zoom
January 24 (Tuesday) on Zoom

Richard asks for input from the members on whether to have meeting programs presented at the start of meetings, with the business meeting held after any presentation. Anyone with an opinion on this idea should email Richard directly at howellrichardk@gmail.com with their comments.

Club Storage: Two potential locations were further investigated by Paul Bergman:
Wayland Freight Station: Paul contacted the Wayland Historical Society about the availability of the freight house. Their response was that the freight house is currently being used for storage by several town organizations with at least two others asking for space. The freight house is not available for chapter use.
Hudson Armory building: Paul also contacted the Town of Hudson about use of the former armory. The town is currently looking to hire an architect to help develop a plan to use the building. The building cannot get an occupancy permit for the building in its current condition. The town suggested checking back in one year.
Essex Street, Haverhill: It is suggested to approach the landlord to ask their reconsideration of renting space to the chapter on a yearly basis. Action: Paul will ask the building owner about this option at the end of the train show season.
Pending Action: Board to identify a storage space to rent after January.

A reminder to members that the chapter provides reimbursement to members for expenses related to hosting meetings and for transporting the trailers.
Membership Secretary Report (Ed Davis): There are currently 71 members of the chapter. Membership renewals for 2023 are being prepared and notices should be sent out in the next few days. A lot of interest in the club was expressed by visitors to the recent Wilmington show. Ed will be encouraging members to indicate their specific interests on their membership renewal from. Ed will then work with Education Program Manager Coordinator Olaf to focus on member interest in developing future meeting programs. Action: Send out 2023 membership renewal notices.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [redacted]

Train Shows:

Richard Howell attended the Monadnock Train Show in Peterborough, NH on Saturday, November 12, 2022 with his H0m Swiss-themed layout, with help from John Avery and Peter Manz. The chapter expressed its appreciation to Richard for attending and increasing the chapter’s visibility.

Greenberg’s Train & Toy Show in Wilmington, MA: The show was held on Saturday, November 19 and Sunday, November 20. The show was well attended by members and there was a lot of interest in our layout by the public. One issue is the location map prepared by the Greenberg show organizers that illustrate where the chapter sets up the layout, which has been incorrect at the past 2 shows in Wilmington. It is suggested that the Train Show Coordinator address this issue with the show organizers. Action: Train Show Coordinator to follow up with Greenberg show organizer.

The Hub Division New England Model Train Expo in Marlborough, MA: The show will be held on Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4. Set up will be on Friday December 2.

The Amherst Railway Society Model Railroad Show in West Springfield, MA: The show will be held on Saturday, January 28 and Sunday, January 29. Set up will be on Friday January 27.

Pending Actions:

Paul will investigate why Märklin is not attending the West Springfield show.
John Cabot will reach out to the Keystone and NY chapters to determine their interest in participating in Euro East at the West Springfield show.
Paul will contact Helmut’s Hobbies to ask if they have plans to attend the West Springfield show again this year. Paul will also reach out to ROCO, Hatton’s, and Jim Geratowski about their plans for the show.

Modules (Paul Bergman): The layout performed very well during the recent Wilmington train show. A log has been started of repairs needed for the next time the layout is dry-docked; there are no problems that are interfering with operation of the layout.

Education Program (Olaf Bodamer): Olaf provided an update on plans to display our modular layout at Boston Children’s Hospital and it is looking promising, according to Olaf. Potential locations for our display at the hospital are the main lobby and a side room off the main lobby. The hospital’s safety office still needs to check off on use of the spaces for the display, which is considering whether a barrier is needed around the layout. If so, the hospital would furnish the barrier. The chapter should look at potential dates, and whether it will be over a weekend, a long weekend, or for a few weekdays. A separate meeting will be held later to discuss further details. Action: Chapter President to initiate meeting on planning for Children’s Hospital display.

Collections (Joey Lochiatto):

Cumulative sales to date from the donated Waltham collection totals [redacted].
Building kits, C-track and some locomotives are still available for sale.
The chapter received a Märklin CS2 (#60213) as part of the Waltham collection donation. The chapter is retaining this CS2 as a loaner for members to use on a temporary basis.

Other Old Business:

ARS Outreach Program: Nothing has been heard from the Amherst Railway Society since the initial meeting.
20th Anniversary Pin: No action reported.
Memorial for Barry Kriegsman: The current thinking is to decide on a specific plan during this coming show season so that work can be undertaken when the modular layout is next placed in drydock for repairs.
Dracula’s Castle: If any member is interested in participating in a working group to build the castle and develop a plan to incorporate it into the modular layout, please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com
Märklin Days 2023: No update to report

Pending Actions:

The board is preparing a policy for reimbursing a member who tows the chapter’s trailer to a club event.
the board will develop a recommendation on how to address future trailer needs and costs.

Standing Announcements:

Meeting Program: Member Peter Bach presented a demonstration on making freight car loads, with an emphasis on freight loads for model European rolling stock. Peter’s’ presentation can be viewed in its entirety on the meeting recording (see the link above). It starts at 1:08:00 and runs for approximately 35 minutes.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

The October meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Joey Lochiatto, Ed Davis, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Alex Leonard, Jeff Koellmer, Al Thompson, Melvyn Crabb, Glenn Fresch, David Fresch, Mark Mervine, John Cabot, Brian LeBlanc, Justin Maguire, Peter Manz, Karl Audenaerde, John Avery, Rob Gallagher, Kristian Beyer, Jerry Eves, Otto Lies, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

President’s Report:

Richard expects to relocate to Halifax, NS in May/June of next year and will give up his position with the chapter at that time.
Upcoming chapter meetings;
November 22 (Tuesday) on Zoom
December 27 (Tuesday) on Zoom
January 24 (Tuesday) on Zoom

Club Storage: Several members have been storing chapter equipment, clothing, and donated items at their homes. The volume of these items is increasing, and access to these items is not always available when any of these items are needed. The board is looking into renting a storage locker and hopes to have a space identified after the West Springfield train show in January. Joey has investigated costs of renting a 5’ x 10’ space and reports that costs range from $100 to $150 per month. Action: Board to identify a storage space to rent after January.

A reminder that orders for the ETE 50th anniversary wagons are due by November 25 to the national treasurer of ETE. The order form is available in the members area of the ETE website at ete.org/members

Membership Secretary Report (Ed Davis): There are currently 71 members of the chapter. Membership renewals for 2023 are coming up. Ed is talking with members to learn what their interests are and feed that information into club activities. Ed is also interested in learning who built each module of the layout and get some background on what is on the layout.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [redacted]

The chapter’s bank, TD Bank, is offering a promotional rate of 3.9% on its CDs; this promotional rate is available for a minimum CD purchase of $5,000. For a 6-month CD, the penalty for early withdrawal is 3 months interest. It was agreed that the treasurer will purchase the 6-month CD for $5,000.

Train Shows (Brian LeBlanc):

Rail Fair Train Show in Boxboro, MA: The show was held on Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2, 2022. The chapter displayed its modular layout and its children’s layout there. The chapter also had sales tables at the show to sell items from donated collections. Staffing of the layouts was a problem area and is especially challenging on Sunday afternoon. Staffing was also difficult because the children’s layout was in a separate room from the modular layout.

Monadnock Train Show in Peterborough, NH on Saturday, November 12, 2022: Richard Howell plans to attend this show with his H0m Swiss layout. If any other members would like to attend, please contact Richard at howellrichardk@gmail.com

Greenberg’s Train & Toy Show in Wilmington, MA: The show will be held on Saturday November, 19 and Sunday November, 20 from 10 AM to 4 PM each day. Set up will be on Friday, November 18. John plans to arrive with the trailer between 12:00 Noon and 1:00 PM on Friday. Brian will arrange for sales tables; any member requesting sales tables should notify Brian. Brian will arrange with the show organizer for the total sales table needs of the chapter.

The Hub Division New England Model Train Expo in Marlborough, MA: The show will be held on Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4. Set up will be on Friday December 2. Badges for this show must be requested by name in advance. The secretary will post a signup sheet on the G-Drive (Google Drive) so that badges can be requested for those members planning to attend the show.

The Amherst Railway Society Model Railroad Show in West Springfield, MA: The show will be held on Saturday, January 28 and Sunday, January 29. Set up will be on Friday January 27. Badges for this show must be requested by name in advance. The secretary will post a signup sheet on the G-Drive (Google Drive) so that badges can be requested for those members planning to attend the show.

There was discussion about plans for a Euro East event during this show:

It was learned that Märklin does not plan to attend. Paul will investigate why Märklin made this decision.
John Cabot will reach out to the Keystone and NY chapters to determine their interest in participating.
Paul will contact Helmut’s Hobbies to ask if they have plans to attend the show again this year. Paul will also reach out to ROCO, Hatton’s, and Jim Geratowski about their plans for the show.
The secretary will contact Jerry Eves about making dinner reservations at the Munich Haus for Saturday evening, January 28.
Action: As stated above.

Modules (Paul Bergman): Good results were achieved from the recent module maintenance efforts, as seen by the success of its operation at the recent Boxborough show. All major repairs were completed during August and September when the modules were in “drydock” in Haverhill.

Collections (Joey Lochiatto): The chapter received a Märklin CS2 (#60213) as part of the Waltham collection donation. It is proposed that the chapter retain this CS2 as a loaner for members to use on a temporary basis.

Clubhouse Initiative: The plan to investigate a potential site in Wayland, MA (a former freight house) is pending; a meeting with the Wayland Historical Society will be arranged to explore use of this building. Paul and Olaf will follow up. Paul may also approach the Essex Street landlord about renting the space again next summer.

Another potential site was suggested. A former National Guard armory in Hudson, MA was recently acquired by the Town of Hudson. Rob Gallagher agreed to investigate its potential. Action: as stated above.

Other Old Business:

Display at Boston Children’s Hospital: No update to report.
ARS Outreach Program: Nothing has been heard from the Amherst Railway Society since the initial meeting.
20th Anniversary Pin: No action to report.
Memorial for Barry Kriegsman: The current thinking is to decide on a specific plan during this coming show season so that work can be undertaken when the modular layout is next placed in drydock for repairs.
Dracula’s Castle: If any member is interested in participating in a working group to build the castle and develop a plan to incorporate it into the modular layout, please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com
Märklin Days 2023: No update to report

Pending Actions:

The board is preparing a policy for reimbursing a member who tows the chapter’s trailer to a club event.
the board will develop a recommendation on how to address future trailer needs and costs.

Standing Announcements:

A reminder that the chapter has its own Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting to our Facebook page.
National ETE monthly meetings have been discontinued. Recordings of past meetings can be found on the ETE National website in the members area.
Chapter shirts, hats and jackets are available. If interested in obtaining any chapter clothing please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com

Meeting Program: The originally planned presentation on MIniatur Wunderland was cancelled as Olaf was unexpectedly detained at work, so could not attend this meeting. In its place, Kristian Beyer made a presentation about his home layout, which was originally given during a National ETE meeting earlier this year. Thanks, Kristian, for stepping in at the last minute and giving a very interesting talk. If you missed it, please see the recording of this meeting. Kristian’s presentation starts at about 1:07:00 (1 hour 7 minutes) of the recorded meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

The chapter welcomes new member John Drake of Granby, CT. There are now 71 members of the chapter.

Membership Secretary Report (Ed Davis): There are currently 71 members of the chapter. The chapter welcomes John Drake of Granby, Connecticut as our newest member.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): (redacted)

Discussion about whether any of the cash on hand should be invested in an interest-bearing account. Action: The treasurer will investigate alternatives and report to the chapter at the next meeting.

Also proposed was investigating the creation of a sinking fund account or separate account for future trailer repair or replacement. Action: the board will develop a recommendation on how to address future trailer needs and costs.

Train Shows:

Rail Fair Train Show in Boxboro, MA: The show will be held on Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2, 2022. Setup will be on Friday, September 30. Current signup shows 3 people for packing up the modules in Haverhill and 5 people to setup in Boxboro on Friday, September 30. There is also a shortfall of help on Sunday, October 2. Additional help appears to be needed to support setup on Friday 9/30 and to support the sales tables and the kid’s layout during the show on Sunday. One-on-one contact with members may be needed to get more volunteers for the show. Members who attend will be offered the opportunity to place their own items for sale on the tables procured by the chapter for selling donated items. Action: in Brian’s absence, Paul Bergman will complete the application for this show and submit it.

Modules (Paul Bergman): Discussion about state of module maintenance and repairs. Given the current state, the layout will not be not ready on Saturday 9/17 for operational training and an operating session for members. The general consensus is that 2 more weeks is needed to complete repairs of the modules. Therefore, the scheduled meeting in Haverhill on September 17 is cancelled and will not be rescheduled. Operational training for interested members can be held on Friday, September 30 in Boxboro after the layout is set up, or at a later date.

Work is underway to improve landscaping, repair catenary and turnouts, track alignment at module joints, and other repairs to the module assemblies. Work has steadily progressed and most work has been accomplished on weekends since the beginning of August. Work sessions are planned for Saturday, September 17 and Saturday, September 24. Paul is optimistic that repairs will be completed in time for the Boxboro show.

Paul has completed a storage box for the light masts and the “body bag” can now be jettisoned.

Education Program (Olaf Bodamer): Olaf has obtained basic building kits from Faller to use for a children’s program at a future train show. Olaf plans future meeting programs on Miniatur Wonderland and a presentation by a Märklin hobbyist in Sweden on a subject to be identified by the chapter.

Collections (Joey Lochiatto): A spreadsheet has been prepared of the items in the donated collections, however, there is not a complete record of where specific items are found in a group of some 40 boxes. It is not practical at this point to find a specific item on the spreadsheet because it could be in any one of the 40 boxes. Action: The plan is to start with a small group of boxes and identify what is in the boxes, then offering those items for sale. Richard Howell, Joey, and Richard Filion volunteered to start this process.

A new offer from the donated Waltham collection will be made to chapter members in advance of the Boxboro show. Action: Richard will put together a list of items to be offed for sale and the secretary will distribute the list to all members. Items will be available at the Boxboro show and will be offered to members at a 20% discount to the market price previously determined by Paul.

Richard proposed to put together basic starter sets of track and some wagons from the Waltham collection, for sale to the public, and will try to do so for the Boxboro show.

Clubhouse Initiative: Olaf proposes to form a working group to brainstorm ideas how to systematically approach this question and its feasibility. Please send a message to Olaf at Olaf.Bodamer@gmail.com if you are interested to helping. Some initial thoughts were to investigate a potential site in Wayland, MA (a former freight house) suggested by Mark Mervine; find a site in a shopping mall and offer a Christmas display of the layout for space. The Essex Street site in Haverhill could be revisited. Liability insurance and other legal requirements may be potential obstacles.

50th Anniversary Wagons: Order forms for ETE’s anniversary wagons by Märklin was previously published in the ETE Express and a fillable form was distributed to our chapter members. Deadline for ordering is November 25. Richard proposed that the chapter buy 20 wagons, at $10 each, and give one to any new member who joins in 2023, the anniversary year. Action: Guy, as treasurer, will order the wagons and have them delivered to Ed Davis, the membership secretary.

Märklin Days 2023: Märklin plans for 2023 have not been finalized and Märklin cannot confirm that there will be a Treff in 2023. It is tentatively planned for September 13-15, 2023.

An ETE-sponsored trip to Germany and Switzerland is being planned as part the ETE’s 50th anniversary. The trip is planned for September 1-17, 2023 and will coincide with the tentatively scheduled Märklin Treff. A proposed itinerary for this trip is attached. Any member interested needs to contact Carsten Ramcke at cramcke@greateventtours.com. .

Other Old Business:

Display at Boston Children’s Hospital: The hospital’s Covid positivity rate of 8% is too high to host our layout; the hospital wants the positivity rate to be at 2%. Two options are possible at Children’s Hospital for locating the layout: main lobby and the lobby of an adjacent building with less foot traffic. It is also possible to place our layout at Children’s Hospital’s Peabody facility. Olaf will continue to monitor the situation there and update the chapter.

ARS Outreach Program: Nothing has been heard from the Amherst Railway Society since the initial meeting.

20th Anniversary Pin: No action to report.

Memorial for Barry Kriegsman: The current thinking is to decide on a specific plan during this coming show season so that work can be undertaken when the modular layout is next placed in drydock for repairs. The Märklin globe from Barry’s train room is too large for transporting to train shows and is not truly portable, so the intent is to place it in a future chapter clubhouse

Dracula’s Castle: Richard prepared a mockup of the castle using the published dimensions and placed it on the end loop module of the layout. Photos are attached to show how it would appear if placed there. Consensus is that the end loop would be a good location for the castle. If any member is interested in participating in a working group to build the castle and develop a plan to incorporate it into the modular layout, please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com

New Business:

The board is preparing a policy for reimbursing a member who tows the chapter’s trailer to a club event.

Standing Announcements:

A reminder that the chapter now has its own Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting to our Facebook page.
National ETE continues to hold monthly meetings on the first Monday of each month at 8:00 PM (Eastern time). Recordings of these meetings can be found on the ETE National website in the members area.

Saturday, June 18, 2022

To All Members of ETE-ENE,

The June meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Saturday, June 18, 2022 at the home of Brian LeBlanc in Woburn, MA. The meeting was also available on Zoom. The meeting convened at 10:00 AM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Brian LeBlanc, Peter Manz, Joey Lochiatto, Lesley Johnson, Ed Davis, Paul Bergman, John Avery, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Alex Leonard, John Cabot, Roman Wajer, Glenn Fresch, David Fresch, Karl Audenaerde, Otto Lies, Chuck Ashworth, Jeff Pritchard, and Michael Haire. The chapter also welcomed Karl Audenaerde’s son, DongWook, who was visiting from California. One member who was not in attendance cast votes for chapter officers by email to the secretary.

Here is the link to the recorded meeting:

GMT20220618-132238_Recording_2304x1296.mp4

Note: Someone left a notebook at the LeBlanc home. Please contact Brian LeBlanc at bjleblanc79@gmail.com to arrange getting it back.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Before the meeting began, Richard Howell asked for a moment of silence to honor recently deceased member Mike dePunte. In addition to his passion for model trains, Mike was a lover of the Swiss Railroad, a machinist, a blacksmith, and an expert photographer. Zeke Sampson and Justin Maguire are handling the disposal of Mike’s train collection and lists of items for sale from Mike’s collection were previously circulated among the membership. Please contact Zeke at Paperx@snet.net with questions.

At the end of the meeting a silent auction will be held for a selection of items from the chapter’s donated collections.

Election of Chapter Officers to serve July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023: Voting results for those nominated at the May meeting:

President: Richard Howell – 19 votes; no other votes cast.
Corresponding/Recording Secretary: Mike Haire – 19 votes; no other votes cast.
Membership Secretary: Ed Davis – 20 votes; no other votes cast.
Treasurer: Guy Daubert – 21 votes; no other votes cast.
Train Show Coordinator: Brian LeBlanc -21 votes; no other votes cast.
Education Program Manager: Olaf Bodamer – 19 votes; no other votes cast.
Collections Manager: Joey Lochiatto – 19 votes; no other votes cast.
Layout Manager: Paul Bergman -21 votes; no other votes cast.

Membership Secretary Report (Guy Daubert): There are currently 70 members of the chapter, which is 2 more than this time last year.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): The treasurer has a detailed financial report, available to any member upon request to the treasurer.

Modules: Paul Bergman reported that the landlord of the building on Essex Street in Haverhill is willing to rent to the chapter the 6th floor space the chapter has used in the past, for 3 months beginning in July. The landlord has given a price of $325 per month for the space. A motion was made and seconded to authorize the rental of the Essex Street, Haverhill space for 3 months at a cost of $325 per month. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Paul will work up a schedule for setting up the modules and for work sessions to make repairs. There was interest expressed in using the time when the modules are set up in Haverhill to encouraging other members to participate in learning more aspects of train operation and control, to develop a specific plan to incorporate a memorial to Barry Kriegsman on the layout, and to work on the recently acquired “Dracula’s Castle.”

Meeting Program: The scheduled presentation by Olaf Bodamer about Miniatur Wonderland was postponed. Olaf was planning to make his presentation from his vacation guest house in Austria, but the internet connection available to him there was too slow to support his presentation. It will be rescheduled for a later time. Instead, Richard Howell made a presentation about the British “Kerosene Castle,” a Swiss-designed locomotive with a gas turbine engine for the U.K., intended to replace mainline steam locomotives in the post-World War II period. Richard’s presentation was very informative and this meeting report cannot do it justice. Please see the meeting recording to enjoy Richard’s complete presentation, which starts at approximately minute 28:00.

As an update to the presentation last month on track cleaning, Peter Manz brought a small battery-powered vacuum that is well suited for cleaning track where catenary is present. The battery is rechargeable but a charger is not included. Peter purchased the vacuum at Amazon for $20; its brand name is HONK and is made in China.

Old Business:

Display at Boston Children’s Hospital – no report
ARS Outreach Program – no information has been received from the Amherst Railway Society about specific plans for their outreach program.
20th Anniversary Pin – no report
Dracula’s Castle – to be addressed further after the modules are assembled at the Essex Street site.
Märklin Days 2023 – Scheduled to be held September 15-17, 2023. There is interest by several chapter members to attend. Carsten Ramcke of the Great Lakes Chapter is organizing a group trip September 2-17, 2023 to include visits to Märklin Days and to other sites; a specific itinerary has not yet been decided on by Carsten. Guy has discussed with Carsten the possibility of piggybacking our chapter plans with those of the Great Lakes Chapter. Carsten has shared other details of his plans with Guy, who has in turn forwarded this information those members who have already expressed an interest in attending Märklin Days. If any other member wishes to receive the information from Carsten or is interested in plans to attend Märklin Days, please contact Guy Daubert at GuyDrives@yahoo.com

New Business:

Concord Train Show: This show has been held in Concord, NH in August in past years and the chapter has attended this show with its Bergbahn layout. No information is available whether the show will be held this year. Richard Howell And Brian LeBlanc will investigate and report back to the chapter.
It was noted that the children’s’ layouts are kept in the trailer with the modular layout and are set up at shows when there are enough members/spouses available to monitor them. The pandemic has reduced the number of members attending recent shows, which has caused the chapter to reduce its displays.
Upcoming Train Shows: The chapter’s current plans are to attend the same train shows in 2022-2023 as those attended this past year.

Standing Announcements:

A reminder that the chapter now has its own Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting to our Facebook page.
National ETE continues to hold monthly meetings on the first Monday of each month at 8:00 PM (Eastern time). The next meeting will be held on Monday, July 11, moved by 1 week due to the July 4th holiday. Recordings of these meetings can be found on the ETE National website in the members area.

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

The May meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Peter Manz, Joey Lochiatto, Ed Davis, Paul Bergman, John Avery, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Alex Leonard, John Cabot, Jeff Koellmer, Olaf Bodamer, Mike Leavey, Zeke Sampson, Roman Wajer, Al Thompson, Melvyn Crabb, Glenn Fresch, David Fresch, Brian LeBlanc, Brett LeBlanc, Kristian Beyer, Peter Bach, Robert Frowenfeld, Karl Audenaerde, David Bisno, Bruce de Graaf, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Membership Secretary Report (Guy Daubert): There are currently 70 members of the chapter. The chapter welcomes Miguel Lessing of Wellesley, Massachusetts as its newest member. A list of learning interests expressed by members on the 2022 membership renewal forms was presented as potential topics for future meeting presentations. See the detailed membership report, attached to these minutes, for the complete list of topics.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [Not included here]

Chapter Bylaw Changes: Discussion of the proposed bylaw changes was initiated. Proposed bylaw changes were last presented at the chapter meeting of April 26, 2022 and comments made at that meeting were since considered for incorporation into the proposal. The current version of the proposed bylaw changes was distributed to the membership in the May meeting notice dated May 18, 2022.

Motion was made and seconded to approve the changes to the chapter bylaws as presented in the proposal “Bylaws as Amended on May 24, 2022” that was distributed to the members on May 18, 2022.

Motion was made and seconded to amend Article IV (Officers), section 2 (Duties…), paragraph D, last sentence, be changed to read “All board of officer meetings are open to all voting members of the chapter and the corresponding/recording secretary shall make timely notice to all voting members of such meetings.”

During discussion of the amendment, it was brought up that there may be a need for the Board of Officers to discuss a confidential matter, such as a financial or personal matter, and that it may not be appropriate for other members to attend such discussions. It was therefore agreed to revise the proposed amendment to include language that would close board of officer meetings when confidential matters are discussed. The motion to amend was revised to the following:

Amend Article IV (Officers), section 2 (Duties…), paragraph D, last sentence, be changed to read “All board of officer meetings are open to all voting members of the chapter and the corresponding/recording secretary shall make timely notice to all voting members of such meetings. Board of officer meetings may be closed to members when the board votes to close a meeting to discuss confidential matters”

There was no further discussion of the amendment. Having a quorum of the membership present for this meeting, the vote was taken on the amendment. The vote was 15 to approve and 7 to reject; therefore, the amendment was adopted.

There was no further discussion to approve the proposed bylaw changes, as amended. Having a quorum of the membership present for this meeting, the vote was taken on the motion to approve. The vote was 22 to approve and 1 to reject; therefore, the amended bylaws were adopted.

Meeting Program: Robert Frowenfeld made a presentation on the new 2022 H0 items from Märklin. Items of note include an MHI class 065 Era IV steam locomotive and a passenger car set for the class 065 locomotive, an MHI class 320 diesel locomotive for the Weibe track construction company and companion dump cars, MHI Schuco car sets, a refrigerator car with Pez advertising, a unique limited-edition Era I Bavarian passenger car set, the Swiss Giruno high speed rail car train, and other locomotives, passenger car sets, and freight cars. Robert adds many interesting facts about the new items that are not contained in the published brochure. Please see the recording of the meeting for Robert’s complete presentation, which starts at approximately 4:00:00 on the recorded meeting.

Chapter Clothing: As previously announced, chapter clothing will be available at the June meeting at a 25% discount. Please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com with your clothing request, which will be honored on a first-come, first-served basis.

Nominations for Chapter Officers to serve July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023: Those nominated for officer positions:

President: Richard Howell
Corresponding/Recording Secretary: Mike Haire
Membership Secretary: Ed Davis
Treasurer: Guy Daubert
Train Show Coordinator: Brian LeBlanc
Education Program Manager: Olaf Bodamer
Collections Manager: Joey Lochiatto
Layout Manager: Paul Bergman

No other nominations were made.

Future Chapter Events:

June 18, 2022 (Saturday): Annual chapter meeting in person, to start at 10:00 AM at the home of Brian LeBlanc in Woburn, MA. This meeting is intended to be a hybrid meeting to include a Zoom connection. For beer enthusiasts, bring your favorite beer to share with others.

Old Business: Deferred to next meeting.

Display at Boston Children’s Hospital
ARS Outreach Program
20th Anniversary Pin
Dracula’s Castle
Märklin Days 2023

Standing Announcements:

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

The April meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Peter Manz, Joey Lochiatto, Ed Davis, John Avery, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Alex Leonard, John Cabot, Otto Lies, Ralph English, Jeff Koellmer, Olaf Bodamer, Mike Chesla, Roman Wajer, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Richard Howell gave a tribute to member Mike dePunte, who passed away on April 8. Richard recognized his talent as a photographer, a master toolmaker, an eBay enthusiast, and one of the creators of the chapter’s Bergbahn 2-rail layout. He will be greatly missed.

Meeting Program: In a departure from past practice, the meeting program was given before the business meeting. Olaf Bodamer made a presentation on tracking cleaning. Olaf gave his personal views of various track cleaning materials and techniques. Olaf addressed how dirt gets onto tracks, several different methods how to remove the dirt (vacuum, rail cars available for track cleaning, mechanical cleaning, and cleaning fluids), and advice on how to reduce dirt accumulation. The presentation starts at approximately 9:00 minutes on the recorded meeting.

Update of the Bylaws: The board of officers has been developing an update of the current chapter bylaws. The proposed changes are driven by new members, new interests, and the desire to spread the work load among more people. The objective is to have updated bylaws in place by the May meeting so that changes can be implemented in time for election of officers. Updates proposed:

Allow for online meetings, including hybrid meetings (combined in-person with Zoom). Objective is to have meetings accessible to the largest number of members.
Number of elected officers increased to 8 elected positions. Rationale for this proposed change is that the club has become more complex, with more to do and manage. Expanding the board of officers and clarifying responsibilities will provide more resources to focus on key areas and issues. It will also provide more resilience should a Board position become vacant.:
The current position of Chairman is proposed to be replaced by the new position of President. The President is the senior Officer and is responsible for the overall coordination of chapter activities. The President shall preside at chapter and Board meetings, and shall be the primary contact for chapter matters with National ETE. It is the duty of the president to ensure that key issues are identified and addressed by the chapter on a timely basis.
The position of Corresponding/Recording secretary remains the same
Module Manager title is changed to Layout Coordinator
Train Show Manager is changed to Train Show Coordinator
A new position is proposed for Education Program Manager. Responsible for arranging high quality educational programs at chapter meetings, train shows, and other venues.
The current position of Treasurer/Membership Secretary is proposed to be separated into 2 positions: a Treasurer and a Membership Secretary.
Treasurer: No changes in financial duties.
Membership Secretary: Membership administration transferred from Treasurer. New responsibilities include: (1) development of deep understanding of needs and wants of current and future members, and (2) development of marketing approaches and outreach programs to expand membership base and replace members lost through attrition
A new position is proposed for Collections Manager to take responsibility for the growing collection of items donated to the chapter. Responsible for both donated collections held for resale and for collections that are maintained and used by the chapter. Duties include acceptance of collections, arranging for storage, maintaining inventories, coordinating sales of excess trains, coordinating financial administration with Treasurer, and establishing teams / work groups to assist in managing the collections.
The current position of Meeting Moderator/Program Chairman is proposed to be eliminated. Meeting moderator responsibilities are proposed to be incorporated into the duties of the President and the duties of the Program Chairman are proposed to be incorporated into the position of Education Program Manager.

The Officers working together as the Board shall be responsible for managing and coordinating the operations of ETE-ENE
The Board shall report to members in the next regular meeting the major topics discussed in a Board meeting along with items requiring further discussion and approval.
Voting on all major ETE-ENE issues will be by all chapter members.
All expenditures over $500 (excluding emergency repairs) require the approval of a majority of members voting at a regular meeting.
Board meetings will be generally attended by Officers. Other members may be invited to a Board meeting when appropriate for the topics being covered.
Rationale for changes to Board responsibilities: Administrative and business issues are consuming more and more time at chapter meetings, at the expense of time available for the fun stuff…European trains and modelling. In a meeting last Spring, several members suggested that the role of the Board is to discuss, solve and summarize major operating and administrative issues i.e., function as management, and then to review the issues at the next chapter meeting. It is important to note that that voting on all major ETE-ENE issues will be by all members as specified in the By-laws. In short, the use of separate Board Meetings for managing and coordinating the operations of ETE-ENE is a more effective and efficient way to conduct business. It will allow more time in chapter meetings for “the fun stuff”, while protecting the rights of chapter members to weigh in and vote on major issues
Comments and feedback given by members at the meeting:

Consider making Zoom available for all meetings
Consider including goal of holding a general meeting once per month
Consider providing reminders within 24 hours of a scheduled meeting
Consider holding meetings at a restaurant
Consider voting for officers by email/snail mail/electronic ballot
Consider engaging members to encourage voting
Consensus is to leave unchanged the definition of a meeting quorum, which is 25% of the membership
Consider requiring officers to have a minimum amount of time as a member. A straw poll indicated support for a 2-year minimum.
Amendments (addition or alteration) to the bylaws will require a quorum and majority vote of those attending a meeting.

Guy Daubert will prepare a final version of the updated bylaws for distribution to the membership prior to the May chapter meeting, when a vote on the bylaw revisions is planned to be taken.

New Business:

ARS Outreach Program: The Amherst Railway Society held a symposium on April 16 to discuss how to attract younger people to the model railroading hobby. John Sacerdote of ARS chaired the symposium. Richard Howell, Michael Haire, and Joey Lochiatto participated by Zoom. The ARS has proposed to hold a train show at the Springfield, MA Train Station in the summer of 2022 using a “trade show” model to focus on attracting youth to the hobby. The ARS promised more information will follow.

Hooksett Show: Richard Howell attended the Hooksett train show on Sunday, April 24. Richard described the show as “very quiet,” with very few people attending.

Future Chapter Events:

May 24, 2022 (Tuesday evening): Chapter meeting on Zoom.

June 18, 2022 (Saturday): Annual chapter meeting in person, at home of Brian LeBlanc in Woburn, MA.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): Deferred to next meeting.

Membership Report (Guy Daubert): No report.

Secretary’s Report (Michael Haire): No report.

Train Show Manager Report (John Cabot): No report.

Module Manager Report (Paul Bergman): No report

Club Collection Report: No report

Old Business: Deferred to next meeting.

Display at Boston Children’s Hospital
20th Anniversary Pin
Dracula’s Castle
Chapter Clothing inventory
Märklin Days 2023

Standing Announcements:

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

To All Members of ETE-ENE,

The February meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, February 22, 2022 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Peter Manz, Joey Lochiatto, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Alex Leonard, John Cabot, Justin Maguire, Robert Frowenfeld, Otto Lies, David Fresch, Glenn Fresch, Ralph English, Ed Davis, Zeke Sampson, Jeff Koellmer, Olaf Bodamer, Mike Chesla, Jerry Eves, Ed Baronowski, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Future Chapter Events:

March 26-27, 2022: Greenberg’s Great Train and Toy Show at the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. Setup is planned for Friday, March 25. The chapter’s application has been submitted and confirmation is pending.

April 26, 2022 (Tuesday): Chapter meeting on Zoom.

May 21, 2022 (Saturday): Chapter meeting in person. Location to be determined.

June 18, 2022 (Saturday): Chapter meeting in person. Location to be determined.

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): (redacted)

Membership Report (Guy Daubert): The membership secretary reported that 66 members have renewed their membership in the chapter and responses from 2 others are awaited. Five members from 2021 have chosen not to renew their membership. The chapter welcomes new members Ann Marie Bergman and Lesley Johnson.

Membership cards for 2022 will be sent by the national organization to all renewing members by email, from which the membership card can be printed.

Secretary’s Report (Michael Haire): All items from Barry Kriegsman’s collection are expected to be sold by the end of the month and proceeds from this sale will be provided to Barry’s widow, Roberta. Plans for a chapter memorial to Barry remain to be developed.

Members are reminded to send all correspondence and messages intended for chapter-wide circulation to the secretary for distribution, as the bylaws assign this duty to the secretary.

There is a pending action from our last meeting to circulate a list of duties for proposed positions within the chapter. A draft of this list was updated by the secretary and previously provided to other board members for comment. Discussion included whether new positions should be included as part of the chapter’s executive board, which would require an amendment to the bylaws. There was also discussion about combining the role of meeting moderator with that of chapter chairman. It is noted that two members have already volunteered for proposed positions: Joey Lochiatto as manager of donated collections, and Olaf Bodamer as manager of educational programs. It was agreed to circulate the list in its current draft form, with the suggestion to add a chapter marketing position.

Train Show Manager Report (John Cabot, Train Show Manager):

The Amherst Railway Society’s Model Railroad show was held on January 27 & 28. The chapter’s planned program at the show was reduced to just the display of the modular layout due to the anticipated difficulty of having enough members present because of the recent surge in Covid cases. And a major snowstorm on Saturday dramatically reduced show attendance. However, enough members were on hand on both Saturday and Sunday to support the chapter’s activities at the show. Thanks were given to all those who were able to help at the show under these very challenging conditions.

The trailer with the layout was brought to the show and unloaded on Thursday evening, which proved to be an advantage because there were no obstacles to bringing the trailer inside the Mallary Building for unloading. Further, there was space available on Thursday evening inside the building to store the trailer, which proved to be a big advantage on Sunday when it was time to load the trailer.

The chapter has submitted its application to attend Greenberg’s Train Show in Wilmington, Massachusetts, which is scheduled for the weekend of March 26-27, 2022.

Module Manager Report (Paul Bergman):

Ther Essex Street site in Haverhill, MA will no longer be available for rental by the chapter for module maintenance. The chapter has recently sent a message to all members asking for suggestions where space may be found for rent by the chapter. The estimated space needed is 2,400 square feet with dimensions of 40’ x 60’. The secretary will re-issue the message which describes in further detail the space needs. The space is needed as soon as April, after the upcoming Wilmington show.

As noted at the recent West Springfield/ARS train show, repairs are needed to several portions of the modular layout. It was suggested that a log book be maintained to record any layout operation problems noted at train shows.

Old Business:

Club Collection Report: The sale from the first grouping of rolling stock from the Waltham collection was a great success, with proceeds from the sale going to the chapter treasury. The first offering was made to club members before the West Springfield/ARS train show, and items that were not purchased by members were offered for public sale at the West Springfield show.

A second group of rolling stock from the Waltham collection is planned to be offered for sale to club members in advance of the upcoming Wilmington show.

Märklin C-track is available for sale at any time to club members. Members should contact Paul Bergman or Joey Lochiatto if interested in obtaining any C-track.

Display at Boston Children’s Hospital: Because of the Covid situation, the display of the chapter’s modular layout at Boston Children’s Hospital has been postponed until Summer 2022.

Disposal of Barry Kriegsman’s Collection (Mike Haire): The following items are available for sale:

A framed and matted print of Märklin art, 18” x 27” in size
3 bins of H0 scale model trucks

Insurance for Chapter Items: It was noted that the insurance company recently contacted about insuring the chapter’s collection will not provide a policy for portable layouts.

20^th Anniversary Pin: No action to date.

Dracula’s Castle: The Faller model of the Bran (Dracula’s) Castle has been received by the chapter and is being temporarily stored at the home of Ed Davis. A central location is needed for assembly of the model; Richard Howell will address this project in the Spring when the train show season is over.

Sweatshirts Available: Joey Lochiatto has made arrangements to obtain embroidered hooded sweatshirts in ETE colors. Joey already has one and wears it now to shows. If interested in obtaining a sweatshirt, please contact Joey at works495@aol.com

Chapter Clothing: Richard will accumulate the various totes with chapter clothing and will put them in the Bergbahn trailer so that an inventory can be done. Please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com if anyone wishes to purchase clothing.

Märklin Days 2023: Guy Daubert is planning to attend the next Märklin Days event, which is expected to be held in September 2023. Guy is asking if there is any interest among the members to also attend, and what other sites would be of interest to visit while making this trip. Please contact Guy at GuyDrives@yahoo.com if interested in this trip and for suggestions on other sites to visit. There may be interest by National ETE as the 50^th anniversary of ETE is in 2023.

Standing Announcements:

A reminder that the chapter now has its own Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting to our Facebook page.
National ETE continues to hold monthly meetings on the first Monday of each month at 8:00 PM (Eastern time). Recordings of these meetings can be found on the ETE National website in the members area.

New Business:

Future program ideas:

Track cleaning (April meeting)
Track weathering (June meeting)
Central Station for beginners/advanced users
Locomotive decoders
Weathering freight cars

The chapter could consider generating a YouTube channel for its presentations

Program: Due to time constraints, the presentation planned by Robert Frowenfeld on the new assortment of Märklin items was not made. Robert agreed to record his presentation for future viewing by interested members.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

To All Members of ETE-ENE,

The December meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Peter Manz, Joey Lochiatto, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Phil Katz, Melvyn Crabb, Alex Leonard, John Cabot, Justin Maguire, Peter Bach, John Avery, Robert Frowenfeld, Karl Audenaerde, Jeff Pritchard, Kristian Beyer, Otto Lies, Chuck Ashworth, David Fresch, Royce Thomas, Mike Leavey, Sam Green, and Michael Haire.

Here is the link to the recorded meeting:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtaUaZ7zC0LDhOof9IpfnIXMZ3UDfQ?e=0qlSuI

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [Not included]

Membership Report (Guy Daubert): The membership secretary reported that there are currently 72 members and 8 associate members of the chapter. The chapter welcomes John Benoit of Topsfield, MA and Joseph Miller of Woodstock, CT as new members. The chapter also welcomes back Rob Gallagher of Centerville, MA.

Membership renewals for 2022 were mailed to all members and the secretary reports that 46 members have renewed so far. Membership cards for 2022 will be sent by the national organization to all renewing members by email, from which the membership card can be printed.

Train Show Manager Report (John Cabot, Train Show Manager):

The chapter’s next scheduled train show is the Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield, MA on Saturday, January 29 and Sunday, January 30. John Cabot plans to arrive with the trailer on Friday, January 28 at 9 AM for setup. The secretary will send a notice to all members asking that those planning to attend this show signup by Sunday, December 26. John will then use the signup list to request show badges.

A suggestion was made for the chapter to obtain sales tables at the West Springfield show in order to sell portions of its collection, to allow members to offer limited items for sale, and to offer for sale the remining items from Barry’s collection. The secretary will work with Paul Bergman and Joey Lochiatto to work out the details of this suggestion.

Another suggestion made was to develop a duty roster of assignments for the upcoming West Springfield show. This roster proved successful at past shows and the secretary will provide further information to John Cabot about the process used in the past.

Peter Bach plans to make presentations at this show on Sunday, January 30 and asks for suggestions of topics that would be of most interest to members. The secretary will send out a message to all asking for suggested topics.

Paul Bergman has provided a layout of the chapter area to the show manager. Märklin is expected to attend the show. Badges will be available on the Friday before the show starts. For those members who arrive on Saturday, a list of mobile phone numbers will be provided in advance to call to arrange pickup of their badge.

The chapter will monitor the Covid situation and re-evaluate its decision in mid-January whether to attend the West Springfield show.

John Cabot provided a summary of the recent Hub Division and Wilmington train shows in Marlborough, MA. Both shows were successful. Module issues that occurred during these shows were generally corrected at the shows, although there are some lingering issues with track alignment and one signal failure. John Cabot intends to write a report on the Marlboro show for publication in the ETE Express.

Module Manager Report (Paul Bergman): Repairs are needed to several portions of the modular layout and the repairs needed cannot be accomplished at train shows. Consequently, these repairs will be deferred until the modules can be set up in “drydock” after the show season is over.

Old Business:

Display at Boston Children’s Hospital: Because of the Covid situation, the display of the chapter’s modular layout at Boston Children’s Hospital has been postponed until Summer 2022.

Disposal of Barry Kriegsman’s Collection (Mike Haire): Several items that remain from Barry Kriegsman’s collection have been recently sold by the chapter and the proceeds will be given to Barry’s wife, Roberta.:

A framed and matted print of Märklin art, 9” x 13’ in size, sold to Brian LeBlanc
A hardbound atlas of the history of railroads in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, sold to Jeff Pritchard

The following items remain to be sold from Barry’s collection; proceeds to go to Barry’s wife, Roberta:

A framed and matted print of Märklin art, 18” x 27” in size
An ESU ECoS train controller, model number 5000, and separate ECoSBoost (booster)
3 bins of H0 scale model trucks

Insurance for Chapter Items: No update or action to report; action is deferred

Essex Street Rental Year-Round (Paul Bergman): An offer has been made to the building owner to rent space in the building at 143 Essex Street in Haverhill, MA. No response from the owner has been received yet.

20th Anniversary Pin: No action to date.

Dracula’s Castle: The Faller model of the Bran (Dracula’s) Castle has been received by the chapter and is being temporarily stored at the home of Ed Davis. A central location is needed for assembly of the model; Richard Howell will address this project in the Spring when the train show season is over.

Donated Collections: Paul Bergman currently has custody of several donated collections. Paul reports that some $700 was raised through sale of C-track from a donated collection and much more C-track is available. Other items of rolling stock are also available and Paul will provide an inventory list to the secretary for circulation among the membership so that members can make first offers for purchase prior to it being offered for public sale.

Volunteers Needed: Members are asked to consider volunteering for additional leadership positions- Youth outreach; Webmaster/electronic media manager; separate membership secretary from treasurer. The secretary will send a description of the anticipated duties of each potential position to the membership for their consideration.

Sweatshirts Available: Joey Lochiatto has made arrangements to obtain embroidered hooded sweatshirts in ETE colors. Joey already has one and wears it now to shows. If interested in obtaining a sweatshirt, please contact Joey at works495@aol.com

Chapter Clothing: Richard will accumulate the various totes with chapter clothing and will put them in the Bergbahn trailer so that an inventory can be done. Please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com if anyone wishes to purchase clothing.

Standing Announcements:

New Business:

Märklin Days 2023: Guy Daubert is planning to attend the next Märklin Days event, which is expected to be held in September 2023. Guy is asking if there is any interest among the members to also attend, and what other sites would be of interest to visit while making this trip. Please contact Guy at GuyDrives@yahoo.com if interested in this trip and for suggestions on other sites to visit. There may be interest by National ETE as the 50th anniversary of ETE is in 2023.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Tuesday, October 19,2021

The October meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, October 19, 2021 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:00 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Jeff Koellmer, Peter Manz, Joey Lochiatto, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Phil Katz, Melvyn Crabb, Alex Leonard, John Cabot, Justin Maguire, Peter Bach, John Avery, Zeke Sampson, Robert Frowenfeld, Karl Audenaerde, Jeff Pritchard, Rob Lang, Kristian Beyer, Olaf Bodamer, David Bisno, Ed Davis, Otto Lies, Ed Baronowski, Ralph English, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [Deleted]

Membership Report (Guy Daubert): The membership secretary reported that there are currently 70 members and 8 associate members of the chapter. The chapter welcomes Ed Baronowski and Ralph English as new members.

Membership renewals for 2022 will be mailed to all members in mid-November and the secretary requests that renewals be submitted by December 15. A motion was made and seconded to establish dues for membership year 2022 at the same rate as 2021; that is, $45 for members electing electronic delivery of The ETE Express and $60 for members electing a printed copy of The ETE Express. The motion passed unanimously.

Memorial for Barry Kriegsman: Several proposals were presented to honor founding chapter member and long-time chapter chairman Barry Kriegsman. It was noted that the chapter has taken possession of the large Märklin globe that was a prominent fixture in Barry’s train room and that a suggestion was already made to display the globe next to the modular layout at train shows, with a suitable plaque honoring Barry. The chapter should consider making a donation to Barry’s wife Roberta as an acknowledgement of her generosity in allowing the chapter to use the globe. It was also noted that mourners traditionally honor a deceased person by providing flowers or making donations to a charity according to the wishes of the family. In Barry’s case, those wishing to honor Barry were asked to make a donation to the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston, where Barry was treated during his illness. During this meeting it was also suggested that a donation to Barry’s wife Roberta would be meaningful.

By consensus, it was agreed that the secretary will ask chapter members that wish to make a memorial donation to Barry, to send such donations to the chapter treasurer. The treasurer will consolidate the donations and send a single donation to the party designated by the donating member, which will be either the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital or Barry’s wife Roberta.

It was noted that several members assisted Barry’s wife Roberta in selling Barry’s collection of model railroad items. Most items have been sold; there are 3 remaining items to be sold to whomever makes the highest offer and a special notice will be sent by the secretary to all members soliciting offers for these items:

A framed and matted print of Märklin art, 18” x 27” in size

A framed and matted print of Märklin art, 9” x 13’ in size

A hardbound atlas of the history of railroads in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

The secretary recovered a number of chapter items from Barry’s train room: awards and certificates received by the chapter at train shows; a banner from the EuroEast 2007 Train Show given to the chapter by ETE’s Keystone chapter; and minutes of early chapter meetings. The secretary will retain these items until the chapter has a suitable place to archive them.

Some buildings and accessories were also recovered from Barry’s collection to use for a possible module that could be assembled as a chapter tribute to Barry. No further discussion was held on this topic.

Train Shows (John Cabot, Train Show Manager): The following report was submitted in writing:

We have three upcoming shows, at which we intend to run four layouts (large club

layout, the Bergbahn, kids’ layout and Richard’s HOm layout). For us to do this, we want to have at least eight club members signed up for each shift, so people can take an occasional break.

Greenberg’s (Wilmington, 11/20 – 11/21). Our application has been confirmed by

Greenberg for all four layouts. There are currently between two and five people signed up for each shift, including setup and takedown.

New England Model Train Expo (Marlborough, 12/4 – 12/5). Our application is

submitted. There are currently six people signed up for setup; the other shifts have

two to five volunteers. There are only three people signed up for takedown.

Railroad Hobby Show (Springfield, 1/29 – 1/30). Our application will be

submitted this week. There are currently six or seven people signed up for each shift, including setup and takedown. NOTE: if any club members plan to sign up

as vendors, the show’s application deadline is this coming Saturday 10/23.

Clearly, we need more volunteers to sign up if we plan to exhibit at these shows. The sign-up sheets are posted online (see Mike Haire’s 10/8 e-mail “Upcoming Chapter Meeting and Train Shows”, and Mike will send out another reminder e-mail this week. If you haven’t signed up yet, please do so; contact Mike Haire or me if you have any problems.

Report on the Recent RailFair Train Show in Boxborough, MA on October 2-3, 2021 (John Cabot, Train Show Manager): The following report was submitted in writing:

A twenty-month hiatus. Three totally rebuilt modules. A completely revamped trailer and module transport system. We got to try them all out at this show, and (in general) they worked!

In the weeks leading up to the show, several club members worked diligently to fix

storage wear on the old modules, properly integrate the three replacement modules,

debug power, signal and turnout issues and generally make them ready for the show

season. D-rings and locking brackets were fitted to the trailer walls to hold everything securely under way.

On Friday morning a crew loaded modules onto the new carts, securing them to

their shelves with end-boards and rolled-up foam. They boxed up the large modules

and coaxed the recalcitrant freight elevator at Essex St. down to ground level.

This was our first time loading using the new system, so it took some time, but shortly after noon we got under way. The drive was uneventful, and we were able to park and unload not far from the hall entrance. The show’s organizers had placed our club layout too close to the wall, but Paul was able to straighten that issue out. The carts made it easy to stage the modules into our area quickly while avoiding the tripping hazards of the past. Setup of the layouts went fairly smoothly, and we left the show hall around 6. On Saturday we had numerous volunteers and were able to man the layouts and still explore the show, although at times I had to round up members to let others get lunch or take a breather. We had fewer volunteers on Sunday, and I was tied up until the late afternoon. Paul Bergman and the Leblanc team helped keep operations going for much of the day. Takedown was a little slow as we had several layouts, two trailers to load and not a lot of people. Once again, the carts proved helpful and kept modules out from underfoot. It took a while to fully load the trailer, as this was the first time that we had loaded everything, including backdrops and the staging track, and it all needed to be secured for travel. Eventually the task was completed, and we all headed home. Many thanks to all those who signed up and helped make this show a success!

Lessons learned:

• I need to write up detailed cart/trailer loading diagram and procedure, and train more members on the loading sequence, locking bracket operation, and other details, as I found myself being pulled in several directions at once, creating an unnecessary bottleneck.

• The locking brackets work, but protrude into the path of the carts, which can cause problems. This can be improved.

• I need to improve the improvised end-board and foam insulation that prevents modules from sliding around on the shelves. Nonetheless, they work pretty well.

• Rain was threatening as we finished loading, although it held off until the drive home. In case of need, we can protect the modules against rain by draping a small tarp over the top of the carts, but I’d like to work out a way to quickly secure it in case of wind.

• At shows we should always have a minimum of six members on duty (i. e., not browsing or having lunch): at least four to man the big layout (operator, assistant, two or more perimeter security) and two for the smaller layouts (one for the Bergbahn, one for the kids’ layout). Practically speaking, that means we should aim for at least eight members signed up for each shift, so that people can take an occasional break. Likewise, we should aim for at least eight people for setup and take down.

Insurance for Chapter Items (Olaf Bodamer): Insurance is available from American Collectors.com for the chapter’s model railroad collection. Cost is estimated to be $220 for $30,000 in coverage. Insurance is available for fixed items; coverage is not available for a traveling layout. An inventory of chapter items would be necessary.

Essex Street Proposal (Paul Bergman): The chapter has accumulated a growing amount of material that is being stored at the homes of various members: donated items that include rolling stock, track, and landscaping materials; the chapter library; chapter clothing; spare parts needed to maintain the modules; and other items. It was suggested that the chapter consider renting space at the Essex Street location in Haverhill on a year-round basis for storage and for maintenance of the chapter’s layouts. The treasurer reports that it is feasible for the chapter to support a rental cost of up to $2,500 a year through the sale of items from donated collections. No objections were raised to immediately pursuing a 12-month rental and Paul Bergman agreed to discuss a rental agreement with the owner of the Essex Street building.

Chapter Programs (Olaf Bodamer):

Olaf has volunteered to act as the program coordinator for the chapter and asks for suggestions from the membership for future meeting programs. The membership secretary will ask members for their interests in the upcoming membership renewal form. Olaf is arranging for the chapter to display its modular layout at Boston Children’s Hospital as part of the chapter’s plan for youth outreach in model railroading. It is planned to occur in the Spring of 2022. More details will be provided as they become available.

Dracula’s Castle: The Faller model of the Bran (Dracula’s) Castle is now available from Robert Frowenfeld and ready for delivery to the chapter. Ed Davis will make arrangements with Robert to take possession of the kit and will hold it until the chapter has a plan to assemble and display it.

Old Business:

Action: Members are asked to consider volunteering for additional leadership positions-Manager of donated collections; Youth outreach; Webmaster/electronic media manager; separate membership secretary from treasurer.

Follow up on pin design for chapter’s 20th anniversary.

Chapter shirts, jackets, and hats are available for sale. Please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com if anyone wishes to purchase clothing.

A reminder that the chapter now has its own Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting to our Facebook page.

New Business:

None

Meeting Program:

Robert Frowenfeld made a presentation on Märklin’s new Fall items for 2021. Robert’s presentation included material from Märklin’s product manager that is not published in their product brochure. Thanks go to Robert for making this very informative presentation.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Saturday, July 17, 2021

The July meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Saturday, July 17, 2021 at the home of Brian, Joyce, and Brett LeBlanc in Woburn, MA. The meeting convened at 10:00 AM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Jeff Koellmer, Peter Manz, Joey Lochiatto, Glenn Fresch, David Fresch, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, John Cabot, Justin Maguire, Brian LeBlanc, Brett LeBlanc, Jeff Pritchard, Otto Lies, Peter Hopper, Olaf Bodamer, Klaus Albert, Robert Frowenfeld, Karl Audenaerde, and Michael Haire.

1. Here is the link to the recorded meeting:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gv8z6rvmnryimqb/AAC-sOqE0ca5IhHa6oPG0wGya?dl=0
Please Note: Richard Howell edited the raw video of the meeting into two sections: the meeting itself and the presentation by Robert Frowenfeld. You will likely have to download to your computer the video of the main meeting to watch all of it as Dropbox doesn’t allow viewing for more than an hour directly from its site. The video of Robert’s presentation is possibly short enough to view directly on the Dropbox website.
2. Following is a summary of the meeting:
3. Secretary’s Report (Mike Haire):
• Barry Kriegman is currently being treated at the Maples Rehabilitation Facility in Wrentham, MA. Visits are allowed (and encouraged) for those who are able to do so. Please stay in contact with Barry through visits, phone calls, and cards.
• Chuck Ashworth is currently hospitalized. Further information will be provided when available.
• An archive of secretarial documents has been recorded on a thumb drive and was given to Brian LeBlanc as a backup to the secretary’s files.
• Bailey Johnson of Waldoboro, ME is offering for sale his father’s European railroad layout and rolling stock from Märklin and Hag. Photos and contact information for Bailey were emailed by the secretary to all members last month. If anyone is interested, please contact Bailey Johnson directly.
4. Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert):
(deleted)
5. Membership Report (Guy Daubert): The membership secretary reported that there are currently 68 full members and 8 associate members of the chapter.
6. Train Shows (John Cabot & Jeff Koellmer): Train shows that are scheduled for the next year were reviewed:
• Sunday, August 15, 2021, 10 AM to 3 PM: Concord Model Railroad Show in Concord, NH will be held this year and the chapter plans to attend with the Bergbahn layout. The chapter has requested 6 sales tables. Setup is planned for 9 AM on Sunday (day of the show). Richard Howell is bringing the Bergbahn layout. Jeff Koellmer has a list of members who volunteered to help at this show. Anyone who plans to attend and help with the chapter display is asked to contact John Cabot at rr@marshhawk.com and Jeff Koellmer at jckoellmer@gmail.com
• Saturday & Sunday, October 2 & 3, 2021, 10 AM to 4 PM: Rail Fair by Nashua Valley Model Railroad Association at the Boxboro Regency Hotel and Conference Center in Boxboro, MA. The chapter plans to attend this show.
• Greenberg’s Train & Toy Show has tentatively scheduled a show at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA for Saturday and Sunday November 20 & 21, 2021. Greenberg’s indicates that a confirmation for this show will be made in late July 2021.
• Saturday and Sunday, December 4 & 5, 2021: The Hub Division’s New England Model Train Expo at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, MA is expected to be held. The chapter has had no direct contact yet with the show sponsor. Further information will be provided when available.
• Saturday and Sunday January 29 & 30, 2022: Amherst Railway Society Model Railroad Show in West Springfield, MA is expected to be held. The chapter has had no direct contact yet with the show sponsor. Further information will be provided when available. The chapter’s contact will be changed to John Cabot.
7. Module Update (John Cabot/Paul Bergman):
The new modules have been moved from Justin’s home in Barrington, RI to Haverhill, MA and are currently loaded on the trailer. The modules are loaded on the new racks and John reports based on his own experience that the loaded racks (with 3 modules) can be readily moved by one person (although for safety a second person should assist). The modular layout is now ready to be set up in the rented space at Essex Street, Haverhill. All that remains to do is set a date to move in. Richard Howell will circulate a poll among the membership to determine a date when sufficient members are available.
John reports that some work remains to complete the trailer work. This work includes the tie down system to secure the rolling racks inside the trailer, and the installation of the storage shelf for the stacking boxes. This work will be completed once the modules are unloaded at the Essex Street space and will be completed by October 1, in time for the Boxboro show.
8. Train Donations (Paul Bergman): Paul has completed an inventory of the items donated by Michael Palfreyman. The donated items will be managed as stated in the bylaws by first selecting items to be retained by the chapter, then offering items to chapter members. It was agreed that the chapter board will review the list and propose items to be retained by the chapter, then circulate the complete list to all chapter members. Members will then be able to indicate interest in obtaining any of the items that are not ultimately retained by the chapter.
The secretary has posted a list of the items donated by member Phil Katz and items retained by the chapter from a previous donation on the Model Railroad Collector’s wiki website at https://www.modelrailroadcollector.wiki/en-us/. The secretary can share the donated items list with any member who registers as a user on the wiki website.

Old Business:
Klaus Albert volunteered to prepare a design for the chapter’s 20th anniversary commemorative pin.
Action: A volunteer is needed to serve as Program Coordinator. Please contact Richard Howell at howellrichardk@gmail.com if you are interested in taking on this role.
Action: Consider additional leadership positions-Manager of donated collections; Youth outreach; separate membership secretary from treasurer
Chapter shirts, jackets, and hats are available for sale. Please contact Michael Haire at mkhaire@comcast.net if anyone wishes to purchase clothing. Chapter clothing should be available at the Essex Street site when the modules are moved there.
A reminder that the chapter now has its own Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting to our Facebook page.
New Business:
Youth Outreach: The only condition asked of the chapter by Michael Palfreyman in making his donation was to use a portion of the donated trains to encourage youth participation in model railroading. To this end the chapter brainstormed ideas for how to meet this condition. Ideas suggested at this meeting:
a. Display layout at facilities for handicapped and ill children. Member Olaf Bodamer, who works at Boston Children’s Hospital, offered to investigate what hospital staff may allow.
b. School demonstrations: Richard Filion volunteered to approach his local school to explore opportunities
c. Science fair and Scout merit badge mentoring
d. Workshops at train shows, community centers, children’s and transportation museums
e. Raffle for starter train sets
f. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Initiatives
g. Portable layout with CS3 control; train control with phone app
h. Kit building
i. Course at children’s camps
j. Prepare suggestions for what assistance Märklin can provide
ETE 50th Anniversary Celebration Planning: The national organization has requested that one member from each chapter serve on the planning committee for the ETE’s 50th anniversary celebration, to be held in 2023. Richard Howell will volunteer to represent the chapter on the planning committee.
Meeting Program:
Robert Frowenfeld made a very informative presentation on Märklin’s Summer 2021 new items. Please see the recording of this meeting at the link given above for this presentation.

Next Meeting: Saturday, August 14, 2021 at 10:00 AM at the rented space at 145 Essex Street, Haverhill, MA. It is expected that the modular layout and the Bergbahn will be up and running for an operating session. Members are encouraged to bring their favorite train to run on the layout. A selection of donated trains being offered for sale may be brought to this meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Haire
Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

To All Members of ETE-ENE,

The June meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, June 22, 2021 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:00 PM. Those in attendance: Richard Howell, Jeff Koellmer, Peter Manz, Joey Lochiatto, Glenn Fresch, David Fresch, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Guy Daubert, Phil Katz, Melvyn Crabb, Alex Leonard, John Cabot, Justin Maguire, Brian LeBlanc, Andy Bramante, Peter Bach, David Bisno, Klaus Albert, John Avery, Zeke Sampson, Roger Williams, Mark Mervine, Robert Frowenfeld, Mike Leavy, Karl Audenaerde, Sean Riva, and Michael Haire. Here is the link to the recorded meeting (Richard apologizes for the incomplete recording of the meeting as he forgot to turn on the record function for the first hour):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5pfvrcbfwijsera/zoom_1.mp4?dl=0
Please Note: To watch this entire video recording you have to download it to your computer; Dropbox doesn’t allow viewing for more than an hour directly from its site.
Following is a summary of the meeting activities:
1.Elections: In accordance with the chapter bylaws, the June meeting is designated as the chapter’s Annual General Meeting and elections are held for six officer positions. Officers serve a one-year term starting on July 1. The following candidates were nominated at the chapter meeting held on May 18:

Chapter Chairman: Barry Kriegsman
Meeting Moderator: Richard Howell
Corresponding/Recording Secretary: Mike Haire
Treasurer/Membership Secretary: Guy Daubert
Module Manager: Paul Bergman
Train Show Manager: Mark Mervine

Barry Kriegsman withdrew from the Chapter Chairman position. Richard Howell and Zeke Sampson then offered to run for this position. Before the vote was taken, Zeke made a statement that he wanted to get more members involved in decision-making within the chapter and suggested that an Executive Board be formed, composed of the 6 elected officers and 3 at-large members. Richard made a statement pointing out his multi-year service as Meeting Moderator. The vote was recorded as:
• Zeke Sampson – 7
• Richard Howell- 19
Further voting was recorded as:
• Corresponding/Recording Secretary: Mike Haire – 26 (no other votes recorded)
• Treasurer/Membership Secretary: Guy Daubert- 26 (no other votes recorded)
• Module Manager: Paul Bergman-26 (no other votes recorded)
Mark Mervine withdrew from the Train Show manager position. John Cabot then offered to run for this position. John declined to serve the dual role of chapter Webmaster, so Jeff agreed to continue as Webmaster until a new volunteer steps forward. 26 votes were recorded for John; no other votes were recorded. Final election results:
• Chairman: Richard Howell
• Meeting Moderator: Vacant
• Corresponding/Recording Secretary: Mike Haire
• Treasurer/Membership Secretary: Guy Daubert
• Module Manager: Paul Bergman
• Train Show Manager: John Cabot
2. Richard Howell agreed to continue in the role of Meeting Moderator until filled. The chapter may consider combining the Chairman and Moderator positions, which would require a change to the bylaws.
3. Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert): [Deleted]
A question was asked whether the chapter can accept payments for chapter dues payments and cash donations through a digital wallet such as Venmo or Zelle, or through PayPal. The treasurer responded by saying it is not possible through the chapter’s current bank account, which is a basic business account provided to the chapter at no cost. However, the treasurer will investigate these options and report back to the chapter.
4. Membership Report (Guy Daubert): The membership secretary reported that there are currently 68 full members and 8 associate members of the chapter. The chapter welcomes Klaus Albert as a new member.
5. Train Shows (Jeff Koellmer): Train shows that are scheduled for the next year were reviewed:
• August 15, 2021: Concord Model Railroad Show in Concord, NH will be held this year and the chapter plans to attend with the Bergbahn layout. The chapter also plans to have sales tables at this show.
• October 2-3, 2021: Rail Fair Model Train Show by the Nashua Valley Model Railroad Association in Boxborough, MA is going ahead and the chapter plans to attend this show.
• December 2021: The Hub Division’s New England Model Train Expo at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, MA is expected to be held. Further information will be provided when available.
• There is no information on whether any future train shows will be held at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. The sponsor of the past shows, the Greenberg Organization, has been sold and its successor has not yet announced any New England shows.

6. Module Update (Justin Maguire/John Cabot/Paul Bergman):
New Modules (Justin Maguire): Justin provided an update on construction of 3 replacement modules. Justin has resolved the interface issues between the new modules and the existing station module. He is currently reconstructing the S curve leading from the end loop to the new modules. Justin expects that the new modules will be ready to move to Essex Street in Haverhill by early July.
Racking System (John Cabot): John reports that he will be going to Justin’s home in Barrington, RI with the trailer and new racks in early July to test load the modules on the new racks.
7. Modules Update (Paul Bergman): Paul reports that the Essex Street space in Haverhill is available for rent this summer. Paul is awaiting a price quotation from the building owner. It was agreed that the space will be rented for 3 months starting in July and extending until the end of September/beginning of October and coincide with the date for setup of the layout at the Boxborough train show.
8. Library Status (Paul Bergman): Paul maintains the chapter library in space at the building he owns in Haverhill, MA for his business. The library consists of magazines, videos, catalogs, and books related to European railroading. Paul has recently leased the library space in his building and needs to downsize or relocate the collection. Paul informed us that, in the 12 years he has maintained the library, he has had no requests to borrow anything from the library. Paul therefore offered the magazines to any member who wishes to take them. If no one takes them by the end of June, Paul asked the chapter for permission to dispose of the magazine collection, which is the largest component of the library and is contained in an estimated 30 to 35 boxes. Member Melvyn Crabb has been providing a subscription to Continental Modeller magazine and Melvyn asked if this subscription should be ended. Paul replied that the current editions of this magazine are popular with the members and asked Melvyn to continue the subscription.
A motion was made and seconded, then voted approval to send the magazines in the library to recycling for disposal.
9. Train Donations (Paul Bergman): Paul informed the chapter that member Phil Katz recently donated a number of train items to the chapter. The chapter expresses its appreciation to Phil for his generous donation. The secretary has posted a list of the donated items on the Model Railroad Collector’s wiki website at https://www.modelrailroadcollector.wiki/en-us/. The secretary can share the donated items list with any member who registers as a user on the wiki website. The secretary will also distribute an Excel spreadsheet with a list of the donated items.
Paul Bergman also reported that he has almost completed a list of the recently donated items from Michael Palfreyman. The Palfreyman collection will

ultimately be added to the wiki. In response to a question, Paul stated that the only condition placed on this donation was that it be used to encourage youth participation in model railroading.
The donated items will be managed as stated in the bylaws by first selecting items to be retained by the chapter, then offering items to chapter members. No plan has been made yet for disposition of the donated items. Some concern was stated, based on the size of the donated collections, about the amount of effort it will take to manage and sell these collections. It should be considered when deciding whether to accept future donations.
Old Business:

Action: A volunteer is needed to serve as Program Coordinator.
Action: Consider additional leadership positions-Manager of
donated collections; Youth outreach; separate membership
secretary from treasurer
Chapter shirts, jackets, and hats are available for sale. Please contact Barry Kriegsman at bjchoochoo@aol.com if anyone wishes to purchase clothing.
A reminder that the chapter now has its own Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto
at works495@aol.com for posting to our Facebook page.
New Business:
None
Meeting Program:
Robert Frowenfeld, with the assistance of member Peter Bach, made a presentation on locomotive maintenance. Please see the recording of this meeting at the link given above for this presentation, starting at about minute 25 of the recording. Thanks go to Robert and Peter for making this very informative presentation.
Next Meeting: Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 10:00 AM at the home of Brian LeBlanc. This meeting will be in-person. Richard Howell will also establish a Zoom connection for those who cannot attend in person.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Haire Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Confirm meeting dates – Richard
Next meeting date is June 22nd via ZOOM. First “in person” meeting planned for 17th July at the LeBlanc house in Woburn MA.
Membership Report – Guy
We currently have 67 members. There is another new member in the process of joining the club; Klaus Albert.
Treasurer’s Report – Guy
Current cash balance is [deleted]. Cash not committed to projects or trailer repairs is [deleted]
There was a discussion about the approval of trailer repairs and other expenditures, even when the monies had been pledged to specific projects. The monies are channeled through the club so it was proposed that there should be a general vote on the expenditure. Comments were made that the donations made for specific projects need not be voted on. Also, only when funds were directed at club assets should there be general voting. There was discussion on how best to proceed. Some felt that the $500 discretionary limit for committee approval was now too low, and that the bylaws needed to be amended. Others felt that the bylaws regarding expenditures should be clarified.
Action: Committee to consider updates to bylaws to clarify expenditures and reflect increased limits
Election of club officials
Jeff Koellmer would like to step down as Show Manager. The chapter expressed its appreciation for Jeff’s outstanding service over the years. Mark Mervine has expressed an interest in taking this over, and has been placed on the list of officer nominations for the June elections.
Action: The committee to circulate the list of candidates for officer positions to the members.
Train Show Schedule / Website update – Jeff
The NMRA HUB division has a show in LOWELL in October (8-11) which is just after the show the club plans to attend at Boxboro. However it seems to require 4 days of attendance which is possibly too much just after Boxboro.
The Concord train show in August 15th will go ahead and there will be a mailing to members to see who can attend and who might be able to tow the BergBahn.
The Greenberg shows have changed hands and seem to be re-starting in Chicago initially.
Action: RH to send out a mailing on the Concord Show.
Module update:
Module progress – Justin
There has been some slight adjustments required on the legs of the new modules, and there is still some track re-alignment required on the large existing module to eliminate the small radius curves. Otherwise, the modules are ready to go to Essex Street, perhaps in the next few weeks.

Module racking system & Trailer update – racking committee
Trailer repairs have been done and the carts test fitted into the trailer. This has been successful and they also fit with some of the modules onboard. There is still work to be done with the cart securing system.
Essex Street for 2021 – Status
Ideally the modules should go to Essex Street in early June.
There was some discussion about how long to rent the space; one view was that anything over the month or so needed to work on the modules was unnecessary, however the majority felt that four months would give the members a chance to use the layout and also learn how to use the CS3. By a majority vote, up to $800 was authorized for the rent of Essex Street.

The remainder of the agenda items were skipped to allow for the presentation.
8:00 PM
· Planning a Layout with WinTrack by Kristian Beyer
A fascinating presentation on this powerful system for layout planning. The video of the presentation is available on the club site.

9:00 PM Meeting ends.

Tuesday, April 20, 2016

ETE Meeting 16th April 2021; 7 PM to 9 PM

Meeting Minutes

Meeting Facilitator: Richard

7:00 PM Open forum – a chance to say “hello” to each other

7:10 PM Meeting starts

1. Confirm meeting dates – Richard

a. May 18th

b. June 19th (Saturday) This is planned to be at the home of the LeBlancs, Woburn MA. If we are still under virus restrictions, then it will be a ZOOM meeting

2. Membership Report – Guy 67 members currently

3. Treasurer’s Report – Guy

Guy went into details over the budget for the club, with a forecast for the remainder of the

year. There were a number of trailer expenses in May; with the planned expenses for the cart and insurance. Unfortunately the trailer needed some important repairs (see video for details) which spares the club reducing its savings to an uncomfortable level. Guy also hoped that the club could generate about $2,000 from sales of the Palfreyman collection over the next few months. The committee will discuss how the club should undertake the sales of this collection.

Action: RH will organise a ZOOM call for the committee for the sale

4. Train Show Schedule / Website update – Jeff

Apparently, the Concord show may go ahead. Jeff will keep the club posted and the BergBahn will need to be readied for the show. Greenberg has apparently stopped trading so there is no show planned for November. There are rumours that the show may start up again after the pandemic. The Marlborough HUB show in December may take place. Boxboro in early October is also looking possible.

5. Module update:

a. Module progress – Justin

Justin showed the development of the legs on the modules and the initial setting up with existing modules. There are some adjustments that need to take place still but the new modules should be effectively “complete” in the next month.

b. R ‘teardrop module modifications – Paul has made a box to contain the “P / teardrop” shaped module. There are fixings to keep it secure, handholds for carrying and he is contemplating fitting some D handles to make it easier to carry. Photos are in the Dropbox file.

c. Module racking system – Update – racking committee

The racks are progressing; the frames are complete and they have been tried out for size in the trailer. Paul is sourcing some shelving for them. More details are in the “Cart_Trailer” video.

d. Essex Street for 2021 – Status

6. Trailer repairs – status update (additional safety-related work required to make it roadworthy) A presentation on the required repairs was given by John Cabot. Details are in the “Cart_Trailer” video.

8:00 PM

Swiss Alpenbahn; A Layout Tour – By Jeff Koellmer

Jeff provided an overview of his outstanding layout. It features breathtaking scenery, Alpine and urban settings, extensive trackwork with catenary, and computerized operation with iTrain. Truly an amazing layout that incorporates many aspects of our hobby.

Locomotive Maintenance Q&A – By Robert Frowenfeld – delayed until June

9:00 PM Meeting ends

Future Meeting Schedule:

Tuesday evenings at 7PM to 9PM

May 18th Planning a Layout with WinTrack by Kristian Beyer

June 20th Locomotive Maintenance Q&A – By Robert Frowenfeld (may include Peter Bach if a ZOOM

meeting) This is a special session of “Ask the Experts”. Robert will answer your questions on locomotive maintenance. It is recommended that you view Robert’s Express Online presentation on locomotive maintenance in advance. This was given on March 1 and is available on the ETE National website.

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Click on the following link to see the minutes of the recent chapter meeting.

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

7:00 PM Open forum – a chance to say “hello” to each other
7:10 PM Meeting starts
1. Presentation – Robert Frowenfeld
a. “2021 New Märklin Items – An Insider’s View”
Robert did an excellent overview of the new products with some great insights in to both the prototypes’ histories and also the commercial background to the models selected. It was also a timely reminder to members that if they were interested some of the models were limited productions so they need to order soon.
b. “Locomotive Maintenance with Q&A”
This has been postponed to a later date.
2. Confirm meeting dates – Richard Howell
Meeting dates will be : March 16th, April 20th, May 18th
3. Membership Report – Guy Daubert
4. There are three new members: Mike Chesla (Newburyport MA), Roman Wajer (Woodstock CT) and Sean Riva (New York / Connecticut). There are now 62 paid-up members.
5. Treasurer’s Report – Guy (Redacted)
6. Train Show Schedule / Website update – Jeff Koellmer
Jeff said that the virtual Springfield show was very interesting. Apparently it is still accessible online, although there are several hours of presentations!
7. Module update:
a. Module progress – Justin McGuire
Justin showed that the modules are looking quite complete in in some places, with detailed boats and dock features. Member Melvyn Crabbe donated a British 08 shunter, which Justin fitted DCC and also repainted to look more like a Dutch prototype. There has been some issues sourcing catenary of the correct length but this is likely to be resolved in a few weeks. One of the electrically operated signals has also be lowered into the scenery.
b. Module racking system – Coordinate sub-committee (Paul Bergmann and JohnCabot)
Paul and John gave an update on progress with the project. Paul reported that his fabricator could make racks for around $475 each, so the total project might come in at around $3,000. Richard asked for a vote to appropriate (set aside) $3,000 for the project. As the members appeared to generally approve the motion he then asked for those against the motion. Otto Lies commented that the club should not spend the money until there was a detailed plan on the construction and other details. This was agreed. John is currently working the details and plans to pick up the trailer to do accurate measurements. Paul asked for the flexibility to spend a smaller amount of money if required to move the project forward. This was approved subject to Board authorization of such expenditures.
8. Program Coordinator Report– Guy / Richard
a. Suggestions for program topics – See attachment: “ETE-ENE Ed
Guy confirmed that both Curtis Jeung and Rick Sinclair, the Märklin Digital Consultants, will give a presentation on the CS3 on March 16th. Most of the presentation will be directed towards answering members’ questions. Members were reminded to send in questions for them to answer! Jeff Koellmer also confirmed he would be a virtual host for his Swiss Alpenbahn layout on April 20th. Kristian Beyer will present on Win Track planning in May.
b. Volunteers or suggestion for presenters
“Ask the Experts update”
9. Recent donation to the club, update – Paul Bergman
The re-packing of the donation continues, and a spreadsheet of items donated has been prepared.
10. Theme for a new module – Richard / Kristian Beyer
Richard and Kristian showed a picture of the latest Faller kit; Bran castle, better known as the home of Dracula! They proposed a new module using it – perhaps a stand-alone. There seemed some enthusiasm for it as a fun project for shows, along with suitable theatrical effects. Robert Frowenfeld is looking into the US price; it isn’t available until September and currently projected to cost around $800!
b. Ongoing business:
c. Chapter shirts, jackets, and hats are available for sale.  Please contact Barry Kriegsman at bjchoochoo@aol.com if anyone wishes to purchase clothing.  
d. Facebook page.  Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting.
e. ETE National weekly online meetings.

9:00 PM Meeting ends
Future Meeting Schedule: 
Tuesday evenings at 7PM to 9PM
March 16th, April 20th, May 18th

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

7:00 PM Open forum – a chance to say “hello” to each other The meeting was attended by 22 members. We were pleased to see that both Mike Haire and Barry Kreigsman were both now at home following recent hospitalisations.    7:10 PM Meeting starts 

Date of February meeting – Richard

It was agreed that the date for the next meeting would be the 16^th February 2021.

Membership Report – Guy

We have 61 members so far in 2021with 2 new members, Mike Chesla (Newburyport MA) and Roman Wajer (Woodstock CT), 3 not renewing and 7 outstanding. The club received additional donations of $1,173 which will help fund the new modules and rack project.

Treasurer’s Report - Guy

(Deleted)

Train Show Schedule / Website update - Jeff

The Amherst show will be virtual and held on Saturday the 30^th January between 9 – 5 and Sunday the 31^st January between 10 and 4.

Presentation – Justin

“My workshop”  Justin gave an excellent presentation of how he has set up his workshop with attention to lighting, work surfaces and the tools that he uses. There were lots of useful tips on arranging your work areas to make the most of space and accessibility to power. There followed a number of questions about some of the projects seen in the presentation.

Module update:

Module progress – Justin (Progress on signals & catenary?)

Justin presented a thorough up date. Apparently the longer lengths of catenary can give problems, so, apart from the bridge area, he has used 250 mm lengths and closer mast spacing. There has been much progress on the boats, waterfront and town areas. Melvyn Crabb has secured a Bachmann 08 shunter to serve on the DCC branch which is similar to the Dutch shunter originally slated to work the branch.

Module racking system – Coordinate sub-committee

John Cabot covered his project plan for the modules (available in the folder on-line). Following his presentation he requested more information before finalising the request for proposals for the racking system. Justin has offered to measure the height of the modules, the number and size of the bins and the sizes of the irregular shaped modules so that John can work out how they will be racked together. The over-sized modules will likely be stored on end and need a dolly to move them. John hopes that once he has this data then he can see what scope there is for additional modules in the trailer as well as the optimal loading of the trailer. Actions: Justin and John

New Business:

Program Coordinator – Guy / Richard

Suggestions for program topics

Volunteers or suggestion for presenters

“Ask the Experts”… for which other members are the experts. Please email Guy guydrives@yahoo.com with any questions in advance of the meeting that you would like covered. This way we can tee up the questions and perhaps reach out to an expert or two in advance

Guy led the discussion and he had received several ideas on future topics. The following appeared to be of especial interest:

Asking presenters from the main ETE presentations to present to us. We would have more opportunity to ask questions than there are at the ETE Monday meetings.

Märklin “101” on the CS3 from the Märklin “guys” – differences from CS2 and getting the most out of it on first use.

Guy also collected questions for the “ask the expert” session; we were able to address a few of them at the meeting. FULL ANSWERS ARE ON OUR WEBSITE (soon) What approaches have other members used to reduce track noise? How can I tell from a Märklin model number, what kind of motor is installed? I once read that it is possible If one wishes to identify a decoder in a locomotive, and there is no information about the decoder, what are the options? – Take off the shell is best; then it will be clear by the type of decoder which Märklin decoder it is – The ESU Lokprogrammer will usually tell you the manufacturer and the exact decoder for ESU, reading CV8 will give a number that tells you the manufacturer and you can then go to their site to identify it further.

Recent donation to the club – Paul

Paul wanted to thank those members who have volunteered to identify and re-box the items in the donation.

Ongoing business:

Chapter shirts, jackets, and hats are available for sale.  Please contact Barry Kriegsman at bjchoochoo@aol.com if anyone wishes to purchase clothing.

Facebook page.  Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting.

ETE National weekly online meetings.

9:00 PM Meeting ends  Future Meeting Schedule:    Tuesday evenings at 7PM to 9PM   16^th February 2021 16^th March 2021 Richard Howell

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

7:00 PM Open forum – a chance to say “hello” to each other

7:10 PM Meeting starts

1. Date of January meetingAfter some discussion Jan 19^th 2020 was selected as the date for the next meeting. Richard will send a ZOOM invitation out. Brian LeBlanc has offered to host the June meeting; assuming that pandemic restrictions are lifted.

2. Treasurer’s and Membership Report – GuyGuy reported that the club has received nearly $1,000 in donations and 52 renewals.

3. Train Show Schedule / Website update – Jeff proposed to support the Amherst MR club if they are trying to fund-raise for educational purposes. There was an agreement to send $100 to Amherst to help them with the educational program or cover sunk costs from the show.

Joey informed us that there are now about 83 / 84 members of the Facebook site.

4. Module update:

a. Module progress

Justin needs a signal (will tell us what model) which he may be able to retrieve from “Barry’s module” and 15 lengths of Sommerfeld Wire 147 360mm long. He will see if the wire can also be scavenged, but if anyone in the club has some new wire of this size they can donate it would be appreciated.

Justin then presented an update of his work; he showed how he uses a mould to produce brickwork, concrete finish on foam using spackle and cement colour and a very interesting method for producing realistic water. His technique for producing patches of rushes using glue and Woodlands Scenics brush was also very interesting. He also showed the DCC tank loco in action – this will be used on the DCC section going to the dock area.

b. Module racking system

Richard mentioned that the last committee meeting had decided to move forward on a racking system, stating with the three new modules. However it appears that they are replacing modules that are staggered through the trailer so it would not be simple to just do these. The discussion moved to doing racking (with castors) for all the modules.

The next step is to accurately measure trailer, which would have to be done even if we used off-the-shelf racking. Finally there was a decision to work up a proper proposal which would consider the sizes of the modules, the loading order, and the management of the grey boxes and ramps. This could be used then to get a number of quotes for custom or, if using off-the-shelf racks would be feasible.

It was decided to form a small sub-committee to put together the proposal; Joey, Justin, John, and Paul. Richard will coordinate a Zoom meeting in January.

Actions: Justin to send drawing of the trailer, Paul to send pdfs of module drawings to sub-committee.

5. New Business:

a. Program Coordinator – Guy / Richard

Guy produced a set of slides to outline the role of coordinator, and is asking for members to feedback to him on the types of topics they would like:

a) What type of presentations would you like to see in the future?

b) Should focus be on modelling, or are presentations on prototypes also of interest?

c) Who would like to volunteer to give a presentation?

We would like a volunteer to coordinate the presentations; Richard and Guy will be glad to assist them with turning raw materials into presentations for example.

Richard pointed out that the role would be great for one of the newer members; a chance to focus on some of their personal needs in modelling, work with some of the experts directly and a great opportunity to share your modelling experience with other members

Three of our chapter members, Peter Bach, Kristian Beyer, and Robert Frowenfeld have made a total of 7 presentations. Topics included decals, soldering, ESU passenger car lighting, and WinTrack planning software. I was agreed that they would be asked to present within the chapter which would give them the opportunity to expand on their original presentations. There was interest in an “Ask the experts” session which this could address.

Actions: Volunteer wanted to work with Guy and Richard!

b. Non-member sales and a recent donation to the club – Paul

Paul mentioned that he had been approached by a non-member about selling Märklin through the club to the members directly. The Committee had approved this and members who might be interested in tis stock should contact Robert Bicknell directly.

Paul then informed the members that the club had received a massive donation of Märklin stock from another non-member that is potentially worth 10s of thousands of dollars. He and Joey (and Joey’s wife) had picked up several boxes of rolling stock, track and accessories. However the stock isn’t in its boxes and would need to be replaced in their correct boxes (which were picked up as well). There is a considerable amount of work required to get the stock ready to offer to club members.

The donor’s only request was that the club support “youth” using some of the funds from selling the trains. Some initial ideas would be to contact the S. California ETE chapter for ideas, and perhaps support for Amherst.

It is clear that the club needs to formalize how it handles donations and bequests, in order to ensure that the club members get a fair chance of securing what they would like from the donations and also to ensure that responsibility for organizing the sales and preparation of the goods doesn’t fall on one person.

It was agreed that the club needs another sub-committee; an Acquisition committee. Initial questions that need to be addressed are: who should be on it? What will they do? Dispersion of funds to charities vs club? Getting kids involved? Handling the proceeds?

Action: Next committee meeting to discuss the formation, function and membership of the Acquisition sub-committee.

6. Ongoing business:

a. Chapter shirts, jackets, and hats are available for sale. Please contact Barry Kriegsman at bjchoochoo@aol.com if anyone wishes to purchase clothing.

b. Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting.

c. ETE National weekly online meetings.

7. Presentation – Justin

a. “My workshop” Postponed until January 19^th 9:00 PM

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

To All Members of ETE-ENE,

The September meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on
Tuesday, September 22, 2020 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform.
The meeting convened at 7:00 PM. 19 active members are in attendance,
including: Richard Howell, Barry Kriegsman, Jeff Koellmer, Peter Manz, Joey
Lochiatto, David Fresch, Paul Bergman, Richard Filion, Rob Lang, Guy
Daubert, Phil Katz, Melvyn Crabb, Alex Leonard, John Cabot, Justin Maguire,
Brian LeBlanc, and John Houldsworth.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:
Treasurer’s Report (Guy Daubert):
A motion was made and seconded to make no change to the amount of chapter
dues for calendar year 2021; the motion passed unanimously.
In response to a question, the treasurer reports that no costs are
anticipated for the construction of the 3 replacement modules being built by
Justin Maguire. Justin confirmed that he does not intend to submit any
costs for reimbursement for the construction of the replacement modules.

Membership Report (Guy Daubert): The membership secretary reported that
there are currently 70 full members and 8 associate members of the chapter.
There is no change since last month.
Train Shows (Jeff Koellmer): Train shows that are scheduled for the next
year were reviewed:

• October 17-18, 2020: Rail Fair Model Train Show by the Nashua
Valley Model Railroad Association in Boxborough, MA has been cancelled.
• November 21-22, 2020: It is expected that the Greenberg Train Show
will be held at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. There is no
information on the status of this show and whether it will be held this
year.
• December 5-6, 2020: The Hub Division’s New England Model Train Expo
at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, MA has been
cancelled.
• January 30-31, 2021: Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show
at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA. According to the
ARS website, the ARS continues to plan for the show. The chapter has
received an invitation from the ARS to attend. The ARS asks for the
chapter’s response whether to attend by October 23, 2020. The ARS has
indicated that, if the chapter chooses not to attend the 2021 show, it will
not jeopardize the chapter’s standing for attending future shows. After
discussion it was the consensus of those attending the meeting that the
chapter will not attend the show. Further, the chapter will inform the ARS
that the chapter’s decision is based on protecting the safety of our
members; the chapter will not provide a tentative acceptance to attend only
to change its decision later so as not to give the ARS false hope that the
chapter would attend and put the ARS at financial risk.
• It was suggested that the chapter should set up its modular layout
in rented space in Haverhill so that members can use the layout to run
trains in small groups. See the discussion of the module update below for
more information about this suggestion.

Module Update (Paul Bergman):

The trailer with the chapter’s modular layout has been taken to the home of
Justin Maguire in Barrington, RI so that Justin has access to portions of
the layout needed for coordination with the replacement modules that Justin
is currently building.

Paul reported that several members (Paul, Justin Maguire, and Zeke Sampson)
recently assisted Sallie Riggs, widow of Mike Corgan, in disassembling their
model railroad layout and several items from this layout were donated by
Sallie to the chapter. Paul said that Mike and Sallie jointly built their
home layout and modeled it on Era I & II in Germany.

Paul introduced Justin to present on the current situation with the new
replacement modules. Justin presented photos of his progress in
constructing the replacement modules and described the following significant
features:
• Fascia and sides of each module are 1/8” Baltic birch reinforced
with ¼” vertical pieces. An X-brace is provided between fascia and back to
prevent racking of module.
• Track is mounted on 3/8” Baltic birch plywood.
• Jumper wire plugs have been installed in aluminum plates
• Locking latches have been recessed for protection.
• Lighting junction consists of 2 brass strips as a lightweight
solution for lighting power distribution. Connections for individual
lights are soldered to the brass strips.
• A cut has been incorporated in to the westbound mainline for
interest.
• Wiring bus was removed intact from Royce’s old module and
reinstalled on the replacement module.
• Justin will not reuse legs on the old modules; he will be building
all new folding legs for the new modules.
• Barry’s old module will be left intact. The chapter is to decide
what to do with the remining 2 modules, which were originally built by Royce
Thomas. Action: Barry will contact Royce to get his feedback on what to do
with the modules.
• Some structures installed on the replacement modules were donated by
Sallie Riggs from the Corgan layout, as well as yard lighting.
• A cityscape scene is included at the west end of the replacement
modules using buildings donated by Sallie Riggs from the Corgan layout.
• When the new work is done, Justin asks that the new work be
inspected by Mike Haire or Zeke Sampson to ensure all operating features are
properly installed. Then, Justin suggests that the entire layout be
assembled so that all systems can be fully checked before taking the layout
to a train show.
• Action: Paul will inquire about the availability of the Essex Street
space in Haverhill for setting up the modular layout once Justin approaches
completion of the replacement modules.

Justin suggested that the chapter rethink how modules are stored in the
trailer. His suggestion is to store modules on rolling metal shelving with
multiple modules placed on each shelving unit. Shelving units then can be
rolled into and out of the trailer. It was also suggested that the cost of
purchasing metal rolling shelving be compared to the cost of building
rolling shelving to determine the more cost-effective approach.

Paul described other donations made by Sallie Riggs from the Corgan layout:

• A farm scene was removed intact from the Corgan layout for use by
the chapter in some fashion. Justin suggests that this scene could serve as
a tribute to Mike Corgan on the end loop module and could fit nicely there
when the track is realigned as part of the replacement module project.
• A small village scene was also removed from the Corgan layout and
donated by Sallie Riggs to the chapter for a future module, which also could
serve as a tribute to the work done by Mike and Sallie.
• Mike dePunte has taken extensive photos of the Corgan layout.
Action: Richard will ask Mike to provide photos for a future presentation at
a chapter meeting.

Old Business:
1. Action: A volunteer is needed to serve as Program Coordinator.
2. Chapter shirts, jackets, and hats are available for sale. Please
contact Barry Kriegsman at bjchoochoo@aol.com if anyone wishes to purchase
clothing.
3. A reminder that the chapter now has its own Facebook page. Send
photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for
posting to our Facebook page.
4. ETE National has been holding weekly online meetings since
stay-at-home orders/advisories have been given. All members are invited to
participate and should be receiving advance email notices of each meeting.
These presentations are recorded and are available for viewing in the
members area of the ETE National website.

New Business:
1. None

Meeting Program:
Alex Leonard made a presentation on garden buildings for large scale trains.
He described how he scratch built G scale buildings from Styrofoam coolers,
plastic containers cut up for windows and doors, and lauan plywood for
roofs. The buildings are very inexpensive to build and compare favorably in
size/scale to building kits in G scale. The buildings are painted to
protect them from UV light and the weather, and they tend to withstand
weather effects very well. And if damaged they are easy and inexpensive to
repair. Alex provided many photos of a wide array of buildings constructed
for his garden railroad.

Meeting Schedule: A recent poll of the membership indicates that a majority
would prefer chapter meetings on Zoom be held on Tuesday evenings. So,
until further notice monthly chapter meetings will be held on the Tuesday
evening following the third Saturday of each month starting at 7 PM. The
next chapter meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, at 7 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire
Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The June meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Saturday, September 21, 2019 at the home of John and Judy Avery in Swanzey, NH. The meeting convened at 10:00 AM. Those attending were: Richard Howell, Guy Daubert, Paul Bergman, Zeke Sampson, John and Judy Avery, Richard Filion, Peter and Carol Manz, Chuck and Lynn Ashworth, Jeff Pritchard, Mark Anderson, Chris Hartman, Otto and Ulrike Lies, Brian LeBlanc, Brett LeBlanc, Glenn Fresch, David Fresch, Mark Mervine (part time), and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Secretary’s Report (Michael Haire):

A suggestion has been made by a friend (and potential member) of the chapter to stream chapter meetings on the internet or broadcast them on Skype, so that more members could participate in the meetings. The person who made this suggestion also offered to assist the chapter in setting up such a system. Further consideration of this suggestion was deferred.

A modular layout operating session for members will be held on Saturday, September 28 at the Essex Street site in Haverhill. The new CS3+ controller will be fully operational and available to those interested in learning more about how to use it.

All were reminded to make their hotel reservations soon for the Amherst Railway Society (ARS) Model Railroad Show at the Big E in West Springfield, MA. A list of hotels that are offering discounted rates during the show can be found on the ARS website at http://www.railroadhobbyshow.com/attendingtheshow.php#accomo

Membership Report (Guy Daubert): There are currently 68 full members of the chapter and 8 associate members, or an increase of one member since June 2019. Our new member is Peter Hopper, of Shelburne, VT.

Train Shows: The schedule of train shows for the next 6 months was reviewed:

October 5-6, 2019: Rail Fair Model Railroad Train Show by the Nashua Valley Railroad Association (NVRRA) in Boxborough, MA. The chapter is working with the NVRRA on its plans to attend this show.

November 2, 2019: The Great Wellesley Train Show at the Wellesley Community Center, Wellesley, MA

December 7-8, 2019: HUB Division Train Show in Marlborough, MA

January 25-26, 2020: Amherst Railway Society Model Railroad Show in West Springfield, MA

There was discussion about the chapter’s attendance at the Greenberg show in Wilmington, MA. The chapter had previously decided not to attend the November Greenberg show. Some members expressed concerns about this decision and asked whether this decision applies to all future Greenberg shows. Issues raised in this discussion included:

The stipend amount paid to the chapter by Greenberg: whether the chapter accepts their standard offer; whether the chapter declines to attend if Greenberg declines to pay an amount requested by the chapter

The prevalence of toy dealers at the Greenberg show, particularly the November show: whether the chapter desires to attend a combined toy/train show versus an all train show. The point was made that, regardless of the number of toy dealers present at a particular show, the chapter’s layout attracts significant attention and interest and the chapter should continue to encourage this interest by attending future Greenberg shows.

Number of shows that the chapter will attend per year: whether the chapter limits the number of shows that the chapter attends with its modular layout, given the effort required to set up and dismantle the layout; whether the chapter will only attend a 2-day show with its modular layout. The point was made that whether the chapter attends a particular show is ultimately dependent upon having enough help from members to set up, operate, and dismantle the layout.

Conclusion: After this discussion, the unanimous consensus of those attending this meeting was that the chapter should apply to Greenberg to attend their March, 2020 show in Wilmington, MA and accept the stipend offered by Greenberg. It was also agreed to assess whether the chapter should attend the November, 2020 Greenberg show after seeing how successful the upcoming Boxborough show is. Some members expect to attend the November Greenberg show to observe how Greenberg uses the space where the chapter typically sets up its layout.

Module Maintenance (Paul Bergman):

Paul Bergman provided an update on module maintenance work performed at the rental space in Haverhill, MA:

Catenary work is complete; work was performed by Peter Manz, Otto Lies, and Brett LeBlanc.

Scenery repairs have started and expect to be completed by September28.

Electrical repairs are complete

Benchwork repairs and improvements are 95% complete

The new CS3+ train controller is fully operational and tested.

Light mast mounting changes are ongoing. New mounting brackets have been fabricated but not installed. Still looking for economical metal light sockets to replace the existing plastic sockets, and still looking for a proper storage box for the light masts as the box dimensions needed are non-standard. Zeke Sampson indicated an interest in fabricating a custom box.

Old Business: The proposed Program Coordinator position was discussed. No one has yet volunteered for this position. It was noted that the Program Coordinator would not be expected to make meeting presentations, but to arrange for members to make presentations in an area of interest to the chapter. Richard Howell will follow up.

New Business:

The 2020 meeting schedule was discussed. Volunteers are needed to host some of these meetings:

February 15, 2020: host needed

April 18, 2020: host needed

May 16, 2020: Meeting at Richard Howell’s home in Wellesley, MA

June 20,2020: Meeting at Brian LeBlanc’s home in Woburn, MA

September 19, 2020: Meeting at John Avery’s home in Swanzey, NH

October 17, 2020: host needed

EuroEast 2020: Paul Bergman is working on plans for EuroEast at the ARS West Springfield show in January. Further information will be provided when available.

After the business meeting, I gave a short presentation on how to make realistic-looking mortar joints on model buildings. I have attached to these minutes a description of the steps I use to make mortar joints using a product called Robert’s Brick Mortar Formula.

The chapter is very grateful to John and Judy Avery for hosting our September meeting this year (and every year). It was great to see everyone there! Thank you, John and Judy, for making this wonderful gathering possible.

Making Realistic Mortar Joints

Key Material: Robert’s Brick Mortar Formula. Available online at https://www.southsidetrains.com/RobertsBrickMortar.aspx

Paint the brick or masonry panels in a color of your choice. To create a brick color, I have used Testor’s “earth red,” raw sienna, rust, and red oxide. I have also mixed a little yellow with roof red. Each gives a different hue for brick. Allow the paint to thoroughly dry before proceeding to the next step.
Using a paint brush, apply Robert’s Brick Mortar Formula to cover the entire brick /masonry panel. Be sure that all joints are filled. Allow the brick mortar formula to thoroughly dry. It will appear dry in about 90 minutes, but I get better results the longer I allow it to dry, at least 24 hours.
When dry, remove the excess brick mortar formula with a damp cloth by gently wiping the surface in a diagonal direction across the brick/masonry panel. The best cloth to use is one of smooth cotton, such as an old T-shirt. A cloth with any texture to it may tend to remove the brick mortar material from the joints. After wiping, allow to dry and examine the results. If you wish to remove more material, gently wipe again and allow to dry. Continue in this manner until you are satisfied with the appearance.
When the brick/masonry panel is completely dry, apply a light India ink wash. This application will take the edge off the bright white appearance of the joints and also seal them. Apply light coats in succession until you are satisfied with the appearance of the joints. I get good results with a water-resistant India ink mixed with alcohol.

Saturday, June 15, 2019 Chapter Meeting

The June meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Saturday, June 15, 2019 at the home of Rob and Darlene Lang in Weston, CT. The meeting convened at 10:00 AM. Those attending were: Rob Lang, Richard Howell, Guy Daubert, Robert Frowenfeld, Brian LeBlanc, Brett LeBlanc, Jeff Pritchard, Jerry Eves, Mark Anderson, Keith Simpson, Glenn
Fresch, David Fresch, Andy Bramante, Shre Thammana, and Michael Haire. Ed Scheff reported car trouble on his way to the meeting. Also present were friends Ed Shaw, Boyd Misstear, Ron Kwas, Bob Stillson, and Karl Yager.
Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Secretary’s Report (Michael Haire):
Chapter clothing is available for purchase at this meeting. Short sleeve polo shirts, long sleeve
oxford shirts, hats, and jackets are available. Please see the secretary after the meeting if
interested.

Membership Report (Guy Daubert):

There are currently 67 full members of the chapter and 8
associate members (same as last month). Train Shows: The schedule of train shows that are scheduled for the next 6 months was
reviewed:

August 18, 2019: Concord Model Railroad Show in Concord, NH. The chapter has attended this show in the past with the Bergbahn layout and agreed to attend again this year. Barry Kriegsman will bring the Bergbahn layout on August 17 and Jeff will bring the layout back after the show.

October 5-6, 2019: Rail Fair Model Railroad Train Show by the Nashua Valley Railroad Association (NVRRA) in Boxborough, MA. The chapter is working with the NVRRA on its plans to attend this show.

No other update was available on the chapter’s plans for the following upcoming train shows:

November 23-24, 2019: Greenberg Toy & Train Show in Wilmington, MA.

December 7-8, 2019: HUB Division Train Show in Marlborough, MA

January 25-26, 2020: Amherst Railway Society Model Railroad Show in West Springfield, MA

Module Maintenance (Mike Haire):

Paul Bergman is making final arrangements for renting space in Haverhill, MA for module maintenance. The space to be rented is the same industrial warehouse space used in the past and is located on the 6 th floor at 143 Essex Street in Haverhill, MA. The rental period will be from July 1 through October 4, when the modules will be transported to the NVRRA show in Boxborough, MA.

The secretary will compose a survey of the membership to receive input on when to move the modules into the rented space, and to identify who is willing and able to assist with the various maintenance tasks. It is expected that the maintenance tasks will include track repairs, catenary repairs, scenery repairs, electrical repairs, and activating the chapter’s new Märklin CS3+ traincontroller.

Summer Excursion to the Seashore Trolley Museum: Plans are confirmed for a chapter excursion to the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME on Saturday July 27, 2019.

The secretary will send out a message to the membership asking those wishing to attend to confirm their participation. No advance payment is necessary. A group dinner is being planned at a local restaurant on Saturday evening. No group arrangements are being made for overnight stays; members should make their own hotel arrangements.

Old Business:

Election of Chapter Officers to serve July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. A motion was made and seconded to elect the nominated slate that was voted at the May, 2019 chapter meeting:
Chapter Chairman: Barry Kriegsman
Meeting Moderator/Program Chairman: Richard Howell
Corresponding/Recording Secretary: Mike Haire
Treasurer/Membership Secretary: Guy Daubert
Module Manager: Paul Bergman
Train Show Manager: Jeff Koellmer
The motion passed unanimously.

Shre Thammana presented the chapter with a donation of $1,000. Shre said that this donation is made because of the extraordinary assistance provided by chapter members, especially Rob Lang, to help Shre get his new Märklin layout running. Shre obtained a pre-formed Noch layout but needed help in setting up the track and controls for this new venture. Shre said that his donation is an expression of his gratitude for the help provided and its value to him.

Chapter friend Karl Yager brought an assortment of Märklin locomotives and European rolling stock for sale.
After the business meeting, Robert Frowenfeld provided some very valuable information about new products from Märklin and ESU:

Märklin has a new decoder intended for installation in locomotives with a field coil magnet (AC motor). This decoder is product number 60906 and does not require that the magnet be replaced.

Märklin has provided an adaptor board for retrofitting its 36XXX series of hobby locomotives that includes a 21-pin connector for decoders. It is Märklin part number E154070.

ESU has a new adapter board for 21 pin decoders, product number 51968. This board allows for quick upgrades of decoders when the decoder uses a 21-pin connector. It is compatible with decoders that can provide 6 physical functions. Output wire are already installed on the adaptor board.

ESU has another adapter board, product number 51967, which is similar to ESU adaptor board 59168 except that it is not provided with output wires.

ESU has available an excellent speaker that is based on what is found in cell phones. This small speaker provides great sound quality, according to Robert. It is ESU product number 50321.

Robert demonstrated the ESU LED light strips for coaches using a 3-car passenger consist belonging to Mike Haire. There are 2 light colors available: warm white (part number 50708), and yellow (part number 50709). These light strips are equipped with their own decoder, so can be programmed individually to control brightness and lighting
effects. There are several groups of lights on each strip, and each light group can be programmed for different effects. Programming can be with DCC or Märklin Motorola. The demonstration set included fluorescent lamp effect; each coach’s lighting controlled by a different function button; a tail light group controlled by a separate function button; and a single light group in one coach programmed to randomly turn on/off to simulate a bathroom.

ESU has a new power pack, or super capacitor, that is designed specifically for the LED light strips described above. It is product number 50710. It is intended to prevent flicker in the light strip due to poor electrical contact. And it is very small, just 9 mm in diameter and about 4 mm thick.

Event Schedule: The current schedule for chapter events in 2019 was presented:

July 27, 2019: Chapter excursion to the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME

August 18, 2019: Concord Model Railroad Show in Concord, NH

September 21, 2019: Chapter meeting at the home of John and Judy Avery in Swanzey, NH

October 5-6, 2019: Nashua Model Railway Association Rail Fair in Boxboro, MA

The chapter is very grateful to Rob and Darlene Lang for hosting our June meeting. Everyone

enjoyed seeing Rob’s very large Märklin layout. Rob’s layout includes many interesting details,

and Rob is most proud of the meticulously detailed market square scene. And it should be noted

that this meeting attracted every single member with a Connecticut address; it was great to see

them all! Thank you, Rob and Darlene, for making this wonderful gathering possible.

Saturday, May 18, 2019 Chapter Meeting

The May meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Saturday, May 18, 2019 at the home of Jeff and Chris Koellmer in Bedford, NH. The meeting convened at 10:00 AM. Those attending were: Barry Kriegsman, Mike dePunte, Jeff and Chris Koellmer, Chuck and Lynn Ashworth, Sue Reed, Phil Katz, Paul Bergman, Guy Daubert, John and Judy Avery, Peter and Carol Manz, Ed Scheff, Brian LeBlanc, Brett LeBlanc, Jeff Pritchard, Joey Lochiatto and Lesley Johnson, Devin Miller, Sam Green, and Michael and Kathy Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Secretary’s Report (Michael Haire):

Karl Yager of Albany, NY has contacted the secretary to offer for sale approximately 20 Märklin steam locomotives, ranging in size from 0-6-0 to 2-8-8-2 and priced from $120 to $300. Most have no boxes. No other information was provided by Mr. Yager. No one was willing to express interest in these items without seeing them firsthand. The secretary will contact Mr. Yager to suggest he bring the locomotives to a future chapter meeting or train show. Anyone interested may contact Mr. Yager at kyager1126@nycap.rr.com
A clothing order was placed on May 1,2019 for 12 polo shirts, 12 oxford shirts, and 12 hats to replace certain sizes that are no longer available in the chapter’s clothing inventory.

Membership Report (Guy Daubert): There are currently 67 full members of the chapter and 8 associate members (same as last month).

Train Shows (Jeff Koellmer): The schedule of train shows that are scheduled for the next 6 months was reviewed:

October 5-6, 2019: Rail Fair Model Railroad Train Show by the Nashua Valley Railroad Association (NVRRA) in Boxborough, MA. The chapter has expressed interest in participating in this show. Representatives of NVRRA will be briefing the chapter on its show plans at the end of the chapter’s business meeting.

Other shows under consideration which have not yet been opened for applications to attend:

November 23-24, 2019: Greenberg Toy & Train Show in Wilmington, MA. It was agreed that the chapter will request a larger stipend than Greenberg’s standard offer of $150 when the chapter submits its application to attend this show. After receiving Greenberg’s reply, the chapter will decide whether to attend.

December 7-8, 2019: HUB Division Train Show in Marlborough, MA

January 25-26, 2020: Amherst Railway Society Model Railroad Show in West Springfield, MA

Module Maintenance (Paul Bergman): Paul has found that the space used in the past in Haverhill, MA for module maintenance is available and the owner has offered to rent the space for $195 per month. If the rental is approved, it was suggested that the modules be taken directly from Haverhill to the NVRRA Rail Fair in Boxborough on or about October 4. Using the Boxborough show as the end date for the space rental, a 3-month rental period would start on or about July 1. There was some discussion about the length of time needed to complete the module maintenance work, with suggestions ranging from 1 month to 3 months. There was general consensus that a work plan was necessary to properly organize the work. After this discussion, a motion was made and seconded to rent the Haverhill space for 3 months, commencing on or about July 1, contingent on having a work plan by the June meeting. Motion was passed 14-3.

It is still the chapter’s intent to replace the 3 oldest modules. Mike dePunte stated that Justin Maguire still wants to prepare a plan for the replacement of these modules, but is not able to do it now due to some health issues. Mike says that Justin is still convalescing and does not expect to be able to start planning work until late summer. It is therefore not expected that the replacement modules can be built this summer; it was recognized that planning can be accomplished through the Fall, Winter and Spring of 2020 with construction next summer.

Mike dePunte informed all that the Bergbahn is in need of repairs to wiring and to the scenery on the layout. The Bergbahn will also be set up in the Haverhill space this summer to have the repair work done there.

Summer Excursion to the Seashore Trolley Museum: Plans are confirmed for a chapter excursion to the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME on Saturday July 27, 2019. Those wishing to attend should confirm their participation at the time of the June chapter meeting. Those attending should plan to meet at the entrance to the museum at 11 AM so that we can enter as a group. Box lunches will be arranged for those interested at a cost of $16.00 each. A group dinner is being planned at a local restaurant on Saturday evening. No group arrangements are being made for overnight stays; members should make their own hotel arrangements.

Old Business:

Chapter Clothing is available for purchase and includes long- and short-sleeved shirts, jackets, and hats. Contact Barry Kriegsman at bjchoochoo@aol.com if you want any clothing.

ETE 40^th anniversary pins and decals are available from Barry to any member who has not yet received them. Please contact Barry if you have not received your 40^th anniversary pin or decal.

New Business:

Nominations were accepted for chapter officers to serve from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Motion was made and seconded to nominate the current chapter officers to serve in their current positions for the coming year. Motion passed unanimously. Elections will be held at the June meeting.

It was suggested that a separate program coordinator be designated as an appointed position to assist the chapter’s elected meeting moderator. The program coordinator would arrange for demonstrations and presentations at chapter meetings on subjects of general interest to the membership. Mike dePunte said that he may have interest in this position but is not ready to make a commitment. It was agreed to task the elected Meeting Coordinator with the responsibility of appointing a program coordinator.

By consensus it was agreed that the chapter will proceed to sell its Märklin American prototype rolling stock that was previously donated to the chapter, with first offer to chapter members.

Member David Bisno has offered for sale his Swiss-themed Märklin H0 layout. Interested members can contact him directly for more information at davidbisno@gmail.com.

Discussion with Nashua Valley Railroad Association (NVRRA): Three members of the Nashua Valley Railroad Association arrived to present their plans for the Rail Fair Model Railroad Train Show in Boxborough, MA. They presented their preliminary room layout for the show with space set aside for our chapter’s modular layout in the main exhibition room. Set up can start at Noon on Friday before the show.

The NVRRA also plans to use a separate room for family-oriented and kid-friendly exhibits. They asked if our chapter would place our children’s layouts in this separate space. The chapter could do so if there are sufficient members attending the show to staff these additional layouts in a separate room. The availability of the additional staffing need is subject to confirmation at a later date.

The NVRRA also offered to place the chapter’s logo in a prominent location in the next version of their show flyer. Food service at the show was also discussed. The NVRRA said that the hotel venue can provide food service; however, their experience is that the hotel asks for a guaranteed minimum participation. The possibility of an Oktoberfest theme for food service will be investigated further.

After the business meeting, Jeff Koellmer led a discussion on lessons learned from the work he and his wife Chris did in constructing their home layout. He talked on the following subjects:

Resources needed

Dealers for sources of supply

Layout room planning

Track planning

Bench work construction

Electric work

Automation of the layout

Rolling stock inventory and storage

Scenery work

Building and accessory lighting on the layout

Tools needed

Event Schedule: The current schedule for chapter events in 2019 was presented:

June 15, 2019: Chapter meeting at the home of Rob Lang in Weston, CT

July 27, 2019: Chapter excursion to the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME

August 18, 2019: Concord Model Railroad Show in Concord, NH

September 21, 2019: Chapter meeting at the home of John and Judy Avery in Swanzey, NH

October 5-6, 2019: Nashua Model Railway Association Rail Fair in Boxboro, MA (tentative). Note: there will be no chapter meeting in October if the chapter attends this show.

Everyone enjoyed their visit to the Koellmer home and seeing their meticulously detailed Swiss-themed H0 layout. Thank you, Jeff and Chris, for hosting the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Saturday, May 16, 2020 Chapter Meeting (Via Zoom)

Our first virtual meeting was a huge success! We plan to continue to hold virtual meetings monthly as it clearly gives all members the ability to participate regardless of their home location. Here are the minutes of the meeting.

The May meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Saturday, May 16, 2020 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 10:00 AM. Those attending were: Richard Howell, Barry Kriegsman, Jeff Koellmer, John Avery, Chuck Ashworth, Peter Manz, Otto Lies, Joey Lochiatto, Glenn Fresch, David Fresch, Paul Bergman, Royce Thomas, Kevin Brady, Jeff Pritchard, Richard Filion, Robert Frowenfeld, John Houldsworth, Rob Lang, Devin Miller, Guy Daubert, Shre Thammana, Ed Scheff, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Secretary’s Report (Michael Haire):

· No chapter meeting was held in April due to the coronavirus pandemic.

· Several members have shared information about their model railroad projects that have been undertaken since stay-at-home orders/advisories have been given. This information has been distributed to the membership by the secretary and many members have expressed their gratitude for seeing what others have been doing with their unexpected free time.

Membership Report (Guy Daubert):

· The membership secretary reported that there are currently 67 full members and 8 associate members of the chapter. Since the last meeting 2 new members have joined the chapter: Gary Grainger of Marion, Massachusetts and Peter Bach of Cold Spring, NY.

· Sadly, member Peter Burke of Saint Albans, Vermont passed away on March 22 at age 65. Peter had been an active chapter member since before 2004. He was a West Point graduate, class of 1976, and received an MD degree from Dartmouth. He most recently served as Pathologist and Laboratory Medical Director for the Northwestern Medical Center in Saint Albans. Action: Guy Daubert will send written condolences to Peter Burke’s family.

Train Shows (Jeff Koellmer):

1. Train shows that are scheduled for the next year were reviewed:

a. March 28-29, 2020: the Greenberg Train Show at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA was canceled due to the coronavirus situation.

b. April 25, 2020: The modular layout display at the Historical Society of Cheshire County in Keene, NH was canceled due to the coronavirus situation.

c. August 16, 2020: The Concord Model Railroad Show in Concord, NH has not been canceled and is listed as an upcoming event on their Facebook page. There is sufficient interest by chapter members to attend this show, if it is held. Barry stated that he can bring the trailer for the Bergbahn layout to Jeff Koellmer’s home in Bedford, NH in anticipation of the show.

d. October 17-18, 2020: Rail Fair Model Train Show by the Nashua Valley Model Railroad Association in Boxborough, MA. There is no information on the status of this show and whether it will be held this year.

e. November 21-22, 2020: It is expected that the Greenberg Train Show will be held at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. There is no information on the status of this show and whether it will be held this year.

f. November 22, 2020: Cheshire Ram Band Train show in Cheshire, CT. The chapter will poll members who live in Connecticut to determine if there is any interest in having a chapter display at this show. Action Needed (from February meeting): Poll members living in CT to determine if there is any interest in providing a display at this show.

g. December 5-6, 2020: The Hub Division’s New England Model Train Expo at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, MA. There is no information on the status of this show and whether it will be held this year.

h. January 30-31, 2021: Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA.

Module Update (Paul Bergman):

· The major emphasis of module work this year is the construction of new modules to replace the 3 oldest modules. It was anticipated that the new modules would be completed this summer and ready for use at the first show of the Fall. A key part of the new module work was the final fitting out in Haverhill, MA at the Essex Street facility. However, due to the coronavirus situation, it is not feasible to rent this space and assemble a work crew to set up and work on the modules. Therefore, it is not expected that the new modules will be ready this year.

· Justin Maguire continues to work on the construction of the new modules at his home. Justin recently provided photos showing his work progress and these photos were previously sent to all members by the secretary. Donations have been made by several members to the effort and the chapter expresses its thanks to the following for their generous support:

o Richard Filion donated funds to purchase building kits for the viaduct that is being incorporated into the new modules.

o Robert Frowenfeld donated all of the C-track needed for the 3 new modules.

o Mike dePunte fabricated and donated the mating plates used to align the new modules.

· Chuck Ashworth noted that upgrades to the lighting mounting system, which were started last year, remain to be completed. Chuck said that this work is not critical as the lights are in working order; he is looking for an opportunity to complete this work.

Old Business:

1. Action: A volunteer is needed to serve as Program Coordinator.

2. Chapter shirts, jackets, and hats are available for sale. Please contact Barry Kriegsman at bjchoochoo@aol.com if anyone wishes to purchase clothing.

3. A chapter summer outing was discussed at the February meeting. Because of the ongoing coronavirus situation, this outing will not be held this year.

4. The chapter has completed its sale of excess rolling stock; C-track is still available for sale. Robert Frowenfeld offered to include information about its availability in his next newsletter to his customers. Action: Provide relevant information to Robert about C-track available for sale by the chapter.

5. A reminder that the chapter now has its own Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting to our Facebook page.

New Business:

1. Election of chapter officers is scheduled for the June chapter meeting. Since it is unlikely that an in-person meeting can be held next month, it was proposed to hold a vote to continue the terms of the current officers through June 2021. Action: Richard Howell will initiate an online vote for this action. Subsequent to this meeting, the online vote was held during the period May 17 through May 26 with 39 voting members participating. The vote was unanimous in favor of continuing the term of the current officers.

2. ETE National has been holding weekly online meetings since stay-at-home orders/advisories have been given. All members are invited to participate and should be receiving advance email notices of each meeting. The consensus of those members who have attended is that these meetings have had outstanding program presentations and are highly recommended. These presentations are recorded and are available for viewing in the members area of the ETE National website.

3. It was suggested that future chapter meetings could include virtual tours of members’ layouts as part of the meeting program.

4. This virtual meeting was a great success and there was general agreement to continue to hold virtual monthly chapter meetings as long as meetings at member homes are not feasible. Richard Howell, who hosted this meeting on Zoom, is willing to host future meetings.

Meeting Program:

At the conclusion of the business meeting, member Robert Frowenfeld made a presentation on upgrading Märklin locomotives using the latest decoders available from Märklin and from ESU. Robert also made this presentation at a recent ETE National meeting and his presentation, entitled “Upgrading Märklin Locomotives,” is available for viewing in the members area of the ETE National website (www.ete.org). Thank you, Robert, for giving us your time for this very interesting program.

Meeting Schedule: Here is the proposed schedule for virtual chapter meetings, subject to changes in train show schedules and the evolving coronavirus situation:

a. June 20,2020

b. July 18, 2020

c. August 15, 2020

d. September 19, 2020

e. October 17, 2020

f. November 21,2020

Thanks very much to Richard Howell for doing all of the advance planning and for hosting this first virtual meeting of the chapter. All agreed that it was a huge success and well worth continuing for future meetings.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Tuesday Evening, July 21, 2020 Chapter Meeting (Via Zoom)

Below are the revised minutes of the July 21, 2020 meeting. Additions are in italics; deletions have a strike through.

The July meeting of the Eastern New England Chapter of ETE was held on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 as a virtual meeting using the Zoom platform. The meeting convened at 7:00 PM. Those attending were: Richard Howell, Barry Kriegsman, Jeff Koellmer, John Avery, Peter Manz, Otto Lies, Joey Lochiatto, Glenn Fresch, David Fresch, Paul Bergman, Jeff Pritchard, Richard Filion, Rob Lang, Guy Daubert, Shre Thammana, Kristian Beyer, Karl Audenaerde, Phil Katz, Melvyn Crabb, Alex Leonard, John Cabot, Justin Maguire, Zeke Sampson, Mike Leavey, Chris Hartman, and Michael Haire.

Following is a summary of the meeting activities:

Membership Report (Guy Daubert): The membership secretary reported that there are currently 70 full members and 8 associate members of the chapter. There is no change since last month.

Train Shows (Jeff Koellmer): Train shows that are scheduled for the next year were reviewed:

· August 16, 2020: The Concord Model Railroad Show in Concord, NH has not been canceled and is still listed as an upcoming event on their Facebook page. The chapter has applied to attend this show. However, there are no members who feel safe attending this show and therefore the chapter will withdraw.

· October 17-18, 2020: Rail Fair Model Train Show by the Nashua Valley Model Railroad Association in Boxborough, MA. This show is still listed on the NVRRA website as an upcoming event. There is no other information on the status of this show and whether it will be held this year.

· November 21-22, 2020: It is expected that the Greenberg Train Show will be held at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. There is no information on the status of this show and whether it will be held this year.

· December 5-6, 2020: The Hub Division’s New England Model Train Expo at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, MA has been cancelled.

· January 30-31, 2021: Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA. According to the ARS website, the ARS continues to plan for the show. The ARS has indicated that the 2021 show may be substantially reduced in size if there are vendor cancellations

Module Update (Paul Bergman):

Paul introduced Justin to present on the current situation with the new replacement modules. However, prior to Justin giving his presentation there was a request to comment from John Avery. John pointed out some of the issues with the current modules: the sight lines were not very good from the control station, and the reverse curve coming from the next module caused derailments. He said that the tunnels and cameo scenes on the modules were attractive to the children who came to look at the layout. John’s statement:

I would like to make some comments regarding the Scenery Topography being implemented on the three Replacement Modules. I have not commented on this Project since the Meeting on June 16,2018, at Otto’s Home. Most of you were not there.

For your information, I was the one who initially raised the issue as to whether the planned Scenery Topography was appropriate for the Club’s European layout. Nobody in this Club has spent more time standing next to these Modules at Shows or lifting these heavyweight Modules than I have. I speak from experience going back to the Springfield Show in 1999.

Going back to 2003, my job at Shows has always been to monitor that end of the Layout for problems. Those of you who have been Operators know that the sight lines to that part of the Layout are very limited. You also know that this is the area where most of the Layout problems occur, whether it be derailments from tight S-curves on the Return Loop, derailments from old K-track Switches or more recently from malfunctioning signals.

My other role is to talk to Show Attendees (Families, Adults, Kids, etc.) educate them about European Trains, answer their questions, and listen to their comments about the Layout. After doing this for 17 years, by far the most popular part of the Layout is Barry’s Module, Royce’s 2 Modules and the End Loop. The main Attractions are the Tunnels on Royce’ Modules and the End Loop. The Kids particularly like to see the Trains enter the Tunnels, disappear and then return. It is this Topography that makes our Layout different than the others.

In the minutes of the June 16, 2018 Chapter Meeting, it states the following:

a) Iii) “Justin agreed with members that the modules should have the following features:

I do not see any of this in the proposed plan?

Also, a) iv) “Justin plans to come back with a revised plan; and is willing to produce a small-scale model to show the Topography.”

Where is this model so that we can all see the proposed Scenery Topography? How can you vote without seeing the Model?

One last item. Everyone is entitled to an opinion on this matter. A Member of this Club should not refer to another Member as an “Ass” in an E-mail simply because they disagree with them. This kind of conduct is not acceptable to me.

Justin then gave a presentation on the current status of the new modules. His presentation started with a look at the three modules altogether to give an idea of what the final project might look like. He showed that the modules followed much of the design brief given by the club; ensuring that the tracks did not run parallel with the edge, that there would be hey a scenic break at one end where the line ran into a cutting, at the other end there would be a substantial town, and that there would also be a space to incorporate some of the existing cameo scenes from the older modules. He also focused on the river / port scene at the centre of the modules which features a train ferry and a long viaduct. There is already an impressive level of detail in this section despite the fact the module is barely finished from a scenic perspective. He then showed some of the track work which was two rail DC and works independently of the rest of the layout. There will be a drawer fitted in the module to store the DC stock for the dock scene. Answering a question about the construction Justin pointed out that the layout is mainly Baltic Birch ply, this is a superior quality for this type of woodworking. There are also a number of other features like a recess for the clasps that hold the inner unit together, and room to adjust the mating plates at the ends. He also showed how the track layout would allow the removal of the reverse curve on the adjoining module to reduce the number of derailments of modern long-wheelbase stock. The next steps involve getting hold of the modules that adjoin these three modules in order to ensure that they fit together correctly and enable him to realign the track work to ensure that it abuts correctly. The outstanding work on the modules includes further scenery and making the legs for the units. Justin has spent over 100 hours so far on construction.

Paul thanked Justin for his excellent craftsmanship.

There followed a discussion on the new modules. Peter Manz and Barry Kriegsman both felt that the modules did not incorporate all of the features discussed by the builder at the June 2018 meeting; and that a model of the proposal had not been supplied. Justin (and others) replied that plans and sketches had been prepared after Justin’s illness and presented at the February 2020 meeting and accepted by the club and he had been given the go-ahead at that point. Otto Lies also voiced that the modules did not follow the June 2018 request. Richard Howell and Paul Bergman reminded them that the proposal had been accepted by a legitimate 15-5 majority. Several of the members expressed opinions that the negativity towards the modules would be likely to put off future offers to make modules. There was some discussion as to having a vote on whether to continue with the modules but several members spoke out against this. Justin made it clear that if the club did not want the modules then he was prepared to keep them for himself and refund the club the $200 that he had received towards materials. He then left the meeting. A member proposed that all discussion should be stopped on the topic and this was carried by a majority.

Old Business:

1. Action: A volunteer is needed to serve as Program Coordinator.

2. Chapter shirts, jackets, and hats are available for sale. Please contact Barry Kriegsman at bjchoochoo@aol.com if anyone wishes to purchase clothing.

3. A reminder that the chapter now has its own Facebook page. Send photos and other information to Joey Lochiatto at works495@aol.com for posting to our Facebook page.

4. ETE National has been holding weekly online meetings since stay-at-home orders/advisories have been given. All members are invited to participate and should be receiving advance email notices of each meeting. The consensus of those members who have attended is that these meetings have had outstanding program presentations and are highly recommended. These presentations are recorded and are available for viewing in the members area of the ETE National website.

New Business:

1. None

Meeting Program:

Richard Howell presented on upgrading a Delta Digital SBB 460 to a modern chip and motor. This involved the Märklin 5-pole motor upgrade and an ESU Lok Pilot MM4 decoder. He showed a diagram for wiring the Swiss 3+1 lighting and how he made the circuit for it.

Meeting Schedule: A recent poll of the membership indicates that a majority would prefer chapter meetings on Zoom be held on Tuesday evenings. So, until further notice monthly chapter meetings will be held on the third Tuesday evening of each month starting at 7 PM. Here is the proposed schedule for virtual chapter meetings:

a. September 22, 2020

b. October 20, 2020

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Haire

Recording/Corresponding Secretary