THE DISPATCHER THE DISPATCHER Official Publication of the Philadelphia Division Mid-Eastern Region National Model Railroad Association October 2020 Volume 27, No. 5 In this issue… 8 ONLINE NAVIGATION: Click on any page to be taken there. Click on any footer to return here. 3 Division News Control & Ops 20 Cup o’ Joe/Walters 4 Form 19 on the MNNR 21 On the Road/Feeney Division Officials 5 September Meet Report 27 New Jersey Division Car 7 Upcoming Events 30 MER 2021 Convention Division Organization 31 NMRA/MER Publications/ 11 Hobby Shops Conventions 12 Web Wanderings/Stevens 32 Division Apparel 13 Video Vigilante/Fagan 34 LBS Convention Apparel 36 Golden Spike Application THE DISPATCHER EDITORIAL STAFF Submissions: THE DISPATCHER welcomes any model railroad- or rail- Editor/Publisher road-related material. Members are encouraged to send in articles, Howard Kaplan letters to the editor, reviews, etc. The editors reserve the right to, 620 Edmonds Ave. when necessary, paraphrase portions of the text in order to fit the Drexel Hill, PA 19026 space available. 610-626-4506 Next Issue: December 2020. Due out approximately December 7th. [email protected] Deadline for submissions: November 30th. Contributing Editors Online Subscription: Free. Make sure the Clerk has your current Mark Wallace, Earl Paine, Bill Fagan, email address and that you keep your info updated at Kevin Feeney, Joe Walters MMR, nmra.org/members. Chip Stevens Print/Mail Subscription (b&w, first 8 pages): $10.00 per year or Contributing Authors $2.00 per single issue. Send all print subscription applications, re- Don Bell, Glyn Thomas MMR newals, address changes, and payment to the Treasurer. Make Proofreader: Gail Kaplan checks payable to “Philadelphia Division, NMRA.” October 2020 • THE DISPATCHER • Page 2 Division News Philly to Host Joint November Meet Online n Saturday, November 7, 2020 the Philadelphia The clinician from our side of the aisle will be Michael Division will host a joint meet online with the Groves, owner of Dwarvin Products. The title of his clinic O New Jersey Division attending as our guests. will be “Model Railroad Lighting Using Dwarvin Prod- Login will begin at 8:30am with the program starting at ucts Fiber Optics.” Dwarvin produces a railroad crossing 9:00am. with detector, bell, and lights that he will describe and If you plan to attend and would like to be able to be demonstrate. Dwarvin Products use fiber optics to light seen by others, you would need a structures, street lights, and other webcam. These are typically inte- modeling applications without wir- grated into most laptops and pads. If ing. Their product line includes N-, you don’t have one, they can be pur- HO-, and O-scale lighting products chased online or from any computer, to animate your layout. electronics, or office supply retailer. Dr. Michael Groves was trained Smart phones have the capability as a physicist in Australia and has built in. If you just want to attend worked in the medical field all his and don’t care about being seen, you life in the USA, first in develop- will be provided with links to down- ment, then sales and marketing. load the application onto your de- Since retirement he has been able vice and to join the meeting to focus more attention on his online to view the proceed- train layout, but became frus- ings. Phone numbers will be trated with the amount of wir- supplied to call in so that you can receive the audio and ing involved to provide even a small level of lighting. It participate verbally if you desire (calling in is not required was this that drove him to use his if you have webcam capability). An email will be sent in physics skills to develop a novel advance with all the pertinent information and instructions. way of lighting without wiring The program will consist of two clinics. First up will using fiber optics. Dwarvin Enter- be New Jersey Division member Barry Rosier presenting prises Ltd. was formed in April on the clinic titled, “Structure Drawing.” In this clinic, he 2018 to commercialize this idea will show you techniques to take and use photographs to and is a family business that in- create scale drawings of a structure to model. First, how do volves his wife, children, and you capture the photos of the structure using a camera? grandchildren. Next, how do you gather the dimensions without using a The remainder of the morning’s program will consist of tape measure and lots of note a group show and tell where members of both divisions taking from these photos? From can discuss what they’ve been working on during the past that information, you can gener- several months. Please check online at phillynmra.org for ate scale drawings for structure any further updates. In addition, an email blast will be sent construction. in advance to members with further details. Jersey mem- Barry is an accomplished bers should consult Train Orders for more info. model railroader who has a pas- sion for sharing this great hobby September Meet Video to with everyone. He is a member be Posted Online of Model Railroading University and a Model Railroading Team Live Member. He has presented several clinics in For all those who were unable to attend the division th the past for the Philly Division together with colleague and meet on Saturday, September 12 , the video of the event friend Mike Dettinger. Barry has served as the webmaster can be viewed online at https://youtu.be/Xmt-FilAgDU. for the Strasburg Model Railroad Club and a producer Anyone with questions for Joe Walters or Mark Wallace of the YouTube Model Builders Shows. He primarily about either of their presentations can feel free to contact models HO and American Flyer S-scale. He is currently them. Their information can be found in the masthead on working on restoring American Flyer trains collected page 3. during his boyhood, as well as creating a 1950s transition- era layout featuring the PRR and LV. October 2020 • THE DISPATCHER • Page 3 DIVISION OFFICIALS Form 19 From the Super… Superintendent / Ops / Social Media Thank you to every- more information and we are always Rob Hinkle one who virtually at- looking to improve the sharing of 1755 Slayton Dr. tended our September knowledge. Blue Bell, PA 19422 meet via Zoom. We had The final topic is “fellowship” 610-279-2394 two excellent clinics which involves everyone’s feeling that during the event as well as a number of he belongs to a community that sup- [email protected] people who shared some of their pro- ports his efforts. The meets that we’ve Assistant Superintendent / jects during our show-and-tell seg- had in the past are the primary source AP Committee Chair ment. As mentioned elsewhere in the of the fellowship; we welcome every- Joe Walters, MMR newsletter we will be hosting the No- one to our meets as an equal and have 840 N Gwynn Ct. vember meet via Zoom again, with the tried to make sure that first time visi- Bear, DE 19701 hope of getting back to normal meets tors have been encouraged to partici- 302-521-5884 sometime next year. pate and share in what they are inter- [email protected] My other thoughts for this newslet- ested. We will continue all of those Clerk / Membership ter were suggested in part by Howard once we get back to the in-person Mark Wallace Kaplan from our last board meeting as meets, but doing it virtually does have 665 Bonny Brook Ave. well as the business cards Howard de- some restrictions. Trappe, PA 19426 signed for the division which we hand Facebook, for all of its flaws, does 610-454-9510 out to members as well as anyone who seem to be a place where a lot of or- [email protected] might have questions for the division ganizations are continuing to grow dur- board. ing this time of crisis. People are post- Treasurer / Webmaster There are three bullet points on the ing what they’ve been working on and Howard Kaplan front of the card that call out what the asking questions of fellow members to 620 Edmonds Ave. division is focused on within the hobby gain the knowledge that they need to Drexel Hill, PA 19026 and what we aim to provide to you: improve their modeling efforts. We do 610-626-4506 enjoyment, education, and fellowship. have the one Facebook group, Philly [email protected] The first, “enjoyment,” is probably Division NMRA Members, which can Directors at Large: the one that the division can help with be used for that sort of togetherness. Clinics / Door Prizes the least. At some point in the near or Zoom is an additional option; the divi- Mike Dettinger distant past we all found that model sion can create Zoom meetings and 610-280-7528 railroading was an enjoyable hobby, have virtual get-togethers. If there is [email protected] with different aspects that can hold interest, please contact me for that in- Publicity enjoyment for the variety of tasks re- formation. Chip Stevens quired for building and appreciating The NMRA and the Operations 774-823-2681 model railroads. Special Interest Group are also hosting Second, we have “education” which online clinics and get-togethers during [email protected] is at the forefront of the division’s this time. Check out the NMRA-X and Item Donations focus with, for example, our meets the OPSIG channels on YouTube or Kevin Feeney showcasing clinics and models of peo- their websites for more information.