Elkhart Model Railroad Club Announcements
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club meets Friday Evenings at 2703 Hawthorne Street in Elkhart, Indiana.
NEWS for February 2021News for February 28, 2021

























































News for March 6, 2020

We are only 2 weeks away from the 2020 Elkhart Model Railroad Club's 15th Annual Nappanee Train Show. The 2020 EMRRC Train Show will be at the Claywood Event Center on March 21, 2020, from 10:00, am to 3:00 pm est. This is the same great event center we held the tremendous 2019 show at. It's approximately 3 miles southwest of Nappanee, Indiana at 13924 N. 1100 W (County Line Road). CLICK HERE for more information and a map. The building has all the amenities and we will take up about 14,000 sq. ft. There will be plenty of direction signs to find your way there. If you are a hobbyist don't miss this show. All scales will be well represented with plenty of used and new items. If you want to bring the family, kids under 12 are free and it's just $5 for adults. Several operating layouts will be running to keep the kids' attention. There will be a restaurant on-site with hot Amish sandwiches, desserts, sides, and soft drinks. Be sure to join us on Saturday afternoon March 21st. You won't be disappointed.
EMRRC had a full house for the first meeting in March. Member Paul Ewing presented an interesting clinic using the Cricut for model railroading. He showed several examples of buildings he had constructed using card stock and cutting them out on the Cricut.
There is a learning curve to the Cricut but for the cost and precision, it's hard to beat. Paul estimates it costs about $2 or less in materials to construct a medium-size building HO-Scale.
Also, the club car arrived from Accurail and several members were able to get a look at it. Later in the evening, we had several trains running on the layout including the SP cab-forward, C&O steam, a long Peabody coal train plus GN, and BN. Upcoming clinics include; Friday, April 4, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Weathering Buildings – Ken Prager- Friday, May 2, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Circus Trains - David Menges- Friday, June 6, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Raspberry PI and Arduino on the N-Scale - Chuck Hart. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Have some fun with model railroading.

Operations were on the schedule for the last Friday in February 2020. We had 20 members and 10 guests show up to run or watch formal operations with dispatcher Nathan Overmyer and chief dispatcher Ron Breniser. The session was the first with the dispatchers moved to their own area and it worked well.
The new dispatcher's board hanging above the dispatcher and a lot less noise and chaos all contributed to a successful evening. The front room area reverted to its normal crew lounge area where visitors and crews waiting on their trains could enjoy refreshments and talk about trains and railroading.
Some announcements during the evening include. EMRRC's club car is being finished up at Accurail and delivery is expected this month. As noted earlier the EMRRC Nappanee Train Show on Saturday, March 21st is sold out of vendor tables. Tuesday night was spent sending out information packs to all the vendors.
Thanks to the envelope stuffing, data input, and letter folding members who showed up for the job. Upcoming clinics include; Friday, March 7, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Using the Cricut Machine - Paul Ewing - Friday, April 4, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Weathering Buildings – Ken Prager- Friday, May 2, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Circus Trains - David Menges- Friday, June 6, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Raspberry PI and Arduino on the N-Scale - Chuck Hart. Friday, March 6th starts with maintenance and work night and continues with open running starting around 7:30 pm. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Have some fun with model railroading.

Friday, February 21st was the EMRRC monthly business meeting. Two new probationary members were voted into the club, Ryan and Aaron. Congratulations to both and we're sure they will be valuable club members. Final preparations were discussed for the March 21st Nappanee Train Show and as mentioned before vendor tables are sold out. Chuck Hart has been working on a Raspberry PI interface for the N-Scale layout and has it working along with automating the switches from members' phones.
Chief Dispatcher Ron Breniser is moving the dispatchers' office to the computer room which will be more convenient for everyone involved. Ron and helpers put up the dispatcher's board and it's looking good.
Jerry Piatt has added 2 new buildings to the Chateau Wood Products area and is busily rebuilding bridges and highways. Other areas under construction include the Hammes Yard Roundhouse area and the new interchange with the Grand Elk railroad. Gary Pressnell is adjusting the track leading to the turntable, alignment is critical, and has laid the track for the new interchange. Ken Prager is starting to lay track in the North Wall and the interchange with the Grand Trunk.
Paul Ewing & Jim Ford are working on the EMRRC brochure and we should have delivery before the March 21st Train Show. Also, Paul is working on the EMRRC Club Car and is expecting delivery on March 10th. The Elkhart Model Railroad Open House and 70th Anniversary Celebration will be May 16th and more information will be coming on that event. Also, the Anniversary will be promoted at the Nappanee Train Show. The West Wall area backdrop is finished and looks great.
Upcoming clinics include; Friday, March 7, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Using the Cricut Machine - Paul Ewing - Friday, April 4, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Weathering Buildings – Ken Prager- Friday, May 2, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Circus Trains - David Menges- Friday, June 6, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Raspberry PI and Arduino on the N-Scale - Chuck Hart. And finally, Formal Operations will be next Friday, February, 28th at 7:00 pm. The era will be modern, sorry no steam. Please be on time and if you are new to operations we will put you with an experienced operator.
After all of that, it was time to run a few trains. Plenty of members, plenty of guests all were either watching or running trains. Some of the unique trains showing up were a beautiful SP Cab Forward. In the 1920s, the Southern Pacific needed powerful locomotives but found that the new articulated 2-8-8-2's did not work well for them. They were a hazard to the crews when traveling through the long tunnels and snow sheds on their system. The exhaust fumes were capable of blinding and suffocating crew members, so to resolve this problem, the Southern Pacific decided to run in reverse. The next articulated engines from Baldwin were built with the cabs in the forward position. The SP went on to build many classes of these "Cab-Forwards". The first 9 AC-4 class engines were built in 1928 and the last one in 1929 by Baldwin. These had a boiler pressure of 235lbs, a weight of 614,600lbs, and a tractive effort of 116,900lbs. According to a note on the SP lettering drawing dated 12/30/49 all AC class engines assigned to Sacramento, Shasta, Portland, and San Joaquin Divisions shall omit the large SOUTHERN PACIFIC on the tender sides, also F class engines on Shasta Division. Photo evidence shows that this was often but not always the case. Unfortunately, they were all scrapped by 1955.
Other engines making an appearance included an NS Virginian Heritage Unit, another beautiful locomotive that performed flawlessly.
Also an interesting Penn Central C636. The ALCO Century 636 was the most powerful single-engine diesel-electric locomotive constructed by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). It used the ALCO 251 prime mover. The locomotive had a C-C wheel arrangement and 3,600 horsepower (2,700 kW). The locomotive rested on a pair of trucks of all-new design, known as the Hi-Ad, standing for 'high adhesion'. Numbers 6330–6344
were ordered by Pennsylvania Railroad before the Penn Central merger and were delivered in PC black. You can still find these locomotives hard at work in regular service on shortlines Delaware-Lackawanna and Livonia, Avon & Lakeville. To see more locomotives and trains join us Friday night February 28th at 7 pm at EMRRC's clubhouse on Hawthorne Street in Elkhart, Indiana for formal operations. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Some announcements to cover from the meeting. As mentioned vendors tables are sold out for our 2020 Nappanee Train Show on March 21st. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for February 14, 2020

For Valentine's Day 2020 members & guests bribed their significant others with chocolates, flowers, money, and wine to make it to the Elkhart Model Railroad Club to run trains Friday night. One member brought his wife after she told him to take her where they have expensive things for Valentine's night. The funeral is next week.
Several unique trains showed up including the Scale Trains GTEL 8500 HP Turbine locomotives. Often called “Big Blows” because of their deafening noise, a 40 car tank car train, a lot of CN, NS, and some leased locomotives. All of them were running Friday night at EMRRC and if you would like to see more locomotives and trains join us Friday night February 21st starting at 8 pm at EMRRC's clubhouse on Hawthorne Street in Elkhart, Indiana. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Some announcements to cover from the meeting. Vendors tables are sold out for our 2020 Nappanee Train Show on March 21st. That means we will have at least 150 vendors plus many operating layouts at our show. Member, Chuck Hart has got a Raspberry Pi operating and running the N Scale layout with JMRI. More info to come. Operations on February 28th will be interesting as Chief Dispatcher Ron Breniser announced the dispatchers are moving to the back room. That means the front area will be used as a crew longe giving the dispatchers and crew members some room and opening up an area for crews to wait between stops. Don't forget members-only till 8 pm due to our monthly business meeting. Have some fun with model railroading.

The Elkhart Model Railroad Club started a cool evening at the club with a clinic by member Paul Ewing. We had plenty of members and guests watch a slide presentation that covered TrainFest Milwaukee, The Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, and several clubs around the Milwaukee Wisconsin area.
Paul, Chuck Hart, Gary, and Will Babcoke usually attend the TrainFest every year. TrainFest is billed as "Americas Largest Operating Model Railroad Show" and with 200,000 sq. ft. (nearly four football fields) of exhibit space featuring more than 70 railroads, it is worth a visit.
TheEiteljorg Museum is an eclectic collection of Native American art. Every year the "Jingle Rails" exhibit is opened for the holiday season. A G-Scale car on the layout was put together by Paul in memory of Charlie Hammes a notable member of EMRRC for years.
One of the clubs Paul & Chuck visited in Milwaukee was the Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee. The club is located in a concrete building at 215 E. National Ave. They have been in the same building since 1936 and that makes the club the oldest club running out of a single location in the United States, the building is a former train station. Built-in 1916 underneath the Milwaukee Road mainline, the station was known as Allis Station for the nearby employer that was a source of many passengers. Allis-Chalmers Corp. had a substantial operation in today’s Harbor District before moving west to its new home in today’s West Allis. The Milwaukee Road shuttered the station by 1926 and an upstart model railroad club founded by future mayor Frank Zeidler, Al Kalmbach, and William Walthers moved in. Much of the train station’s architectural detailing remains, including subway tiles that frame the ticket counter and waiting room.
That was the beginning of our meeting. An announcement was made that we have sold 145 tables for the EMRRC 2020 Train Show in Nappanee. That means only 5 vendor tables remain for the show on March 21, 2020. After the meeting, it was time to run some trains. Everything from AMTRAK to the Freedom Train passenger train was running Friday night. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. One item from Model Train Stuff. They are having a 10% off sale on wheelsets, couplers, and trucks. Use the promo code 10COUPLER at checkout. This ends on 2/16. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for January 31, 2020

EMRRC had over 25 people running trains during our end of the month open running on Friday, January 31st, 2020.
We had several steam engines running including a UP Challenger pulling a beautiful UP passenger train.
Of course, we had plenty of NS running as we are just south of Norfolk Southern's second-largest yard. One of the NS units was the GoRail locomotive that commemorates the 10th anniversary of GoRail, an organization that promotes the benefits of moving more freight by rail.
Make sure you take a look at NS 1625. Built by Matt Glassman it's an SD40-2 built from a Scale Trains CSX SD40-3 parts kit and it has a rattle can paint job. The kit was featured a few weeks ago on our video from 12/20/2019.
Member Randy Robbins found a Model Die Casting/ Roundhouse metal caboose kit. MDC was bought by Horizon Hobby and integrated into Athearn years ago. We'll get some more pictures as Randy completes this kit.
Member Paul Ewing brought in some digital mockups of our new club car and it looks great. It's a 3 bay coal hopper by Accurail in E&W reporting marks. The 2020 Train Show is coming up in under 60 days and we only have 10 tables out of 150 left. So if you're interested in a vendor table, be sure to go to the 2020 Train Show page for more information. The show is on March 21, 2020, from 10:00, am till 3:00 pm at the Claywood Event Center in Napanee, Indiana. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for January 24, 2020
It was 1975 at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club for operations night. The Freedom Train ran along with a lot of escapees from the 60s who were destined to be repainted into their new colors.
Nathan Overmyer was the dispatcher for the night and did a smooth job with the chief dispatcher only jumping in the van once to go find an errant engineer. We had plenty of members and guests show up. If you would like to come out and take a look
at EMRRC we are open Friday, January 31st for open running from 7:00 pm till 10:00 pm. The 2020 Train Show is shaping up for another great run. Be sure to join us on March 21, 2020, from 10:00 am till 3:00 Pm at the Claywood Event Center in Napanee, Indiana. Click Here to see our latest video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for January 17, 2020

Friday night was our monthly meeting at EMRRC. Items discussed included the upcoming Elkhart Model Railroad Club 15th Annual Train Show on March 21st. 130 vendor tables have been sold and the final few marketing items were settled. Other items discussed at the meeting were the possibility of another night of running, open to the public. A committee was formed to look into this. Also, EMRRC's 70th Anniversary is this year. A date of May 16th was set for our open house. Member Jim Ford was given a gift certificate for his contributions to the club in 2019. Also, the current board was re-upped to a life sentence.
Several projects were discussed including the update to the North Wall, Elkhart & Western trackage spearheaded by member Ken Prager. The continuation of the Chateau Wood Products area was headed up by member Jerry Piatt after the original builder Stan Shatto passed away. And the addition of a backdrop along the West Wall headed by member Charlie Yoakam with help from Jeff Rogers & Jim Ford. The progress of our club car was reported on by member Paul Ewing, which will be ready to sell at the Train Show and open house.
Afterward, several members set up for next Friday's operation session, and trains were brought out to run. Click Here to see our latest video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for January 10, 2020

Menard's has its 15% off all train stuff you can fit inside an in-store bag through Saturday, January 18th. The south store in South Bend has a good selection right now.
It was a lively open running session at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club on Friday the 10th. Plenty of members and guests were on hand as several large and small unique trains were running over E&W, EMRRC, and Grand Elk trackage. Looking for something to do on Friday nights? Come by and check out a model railroad that has been running since the 1950s. Guests are free, parking is free and soft drinks and candy are inexpensive. Take a look at the About Us page for more information. Don't forget EMRRC will not open to the public till 8:00 pm on January 17, 2020, as we have our monthly business meeting until 8:00 pm for members only.
Member Matt Glassman was busy programming a New York Central RS-2 with a LokSound decoder in it. Matt has his personal test track setup which includes a LokSound ESU programmer and a Digitrax Zepher tied to sections of N-Scale and HO-Scale track all on a portable cabinet. Matt's well-used laptop has all of the software to program just about any kind of decoder. Matt also belongs to an N-Scale modular group, Michiana T-Trakers, and uses his portable setup to run the modules when they are on location.
Plenty of diesel running this week but I promise next week there will be a lot of steam. Click Here to see our latest video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area/ This is the latest list) courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Vendors we are selling tables quickly for the 2020 Train Show (we have more than 115 tables sold out of 150) so make sure you check as there are applications and information for vendors on the page. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for January 2020

The Elkhart Model Railroad Club starts a new year with lots of maintenance and course many trains running on our HO Scale layout. We started 2020 with a massive track cleaning session involving members and guests. We covered just about the entire layout in about an hour. There was an interesting article in Model Railroad Hobbyist about the different methods of cleaning track and the chemistry behind it. From their research, you can see kerosene, WD-40 Contact Cleaner, CRC Contact Cleaner, and Protectorate, Deoxit D5, Neverstall, and mineral spirits are all excellent solvents to use for cleaning track and wheels. Solvents to avoid include isopropyl, alcohol, MEK, acetone, and lacquer thinner. We used Bight Boys along with WD40 Contact Cleaner based on our experience and the article.
Also during cleaning, there was a track crew working on the Flushing branch cutoff and reverse loop. They rewired the reverse loop to lengthened it and worked on finessing the track to increase reliability in that area. After extensive testing with passenger cars running through this area, everything ran much better. We'll give it the acid test during our next scheduled operations session on January 24th. Do you enjoy solving problems and working as a team? Be sure to join us on the 24th for our operations session where it will be 1968 on the layout. Never run with us before? We'll put you with an experienced operator on the EMRRC layout. The session starts at 7:00 pm sharp so don't be late.
Plenty of diesel running this week including IHB so Click Here to see our latest video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area/ This is the latest list) courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Vendors we are selling tables quickly for the 2020 Train Show so make sure you check as there are applications and information for vendors on the page. Have some fun with model railroading.