Cannon Ball Spring 2005

Official Publication of Northeastern Region THE SUNRISE TRAIL DIVISION, INC. National Model Railroad Association VOLUME 35 NUMBER 1 SPRING 2005 MODELING MINEOLA a heavily traveled main, two junctions and a variety of traffic make an old standby a gem to model / WALTER WOHLEKING CONTEMPORARY TRENDS in layout design encourage model railroaders to emu- late a prototype with their selection of locomotives, cars and scenery, to execute their trackplans with prototype-appropriate Layout Design Elements (LDEs), and to operate according to prototype practices employing staging. Because all of this is a lot easier said than done, result often play lip service to concept, and good intentions metamorphose into a collection of rolling stock lettered for the prototype passing through a fictional location on a route that never existed, all regulated by a fast clock to increase the frequency of train appearances and operating interest. Make no mistake about it. This can be a formula for a very satisfying model railroading experience. But if emulating the prototype is really what is desired, then it can also be a stretch. Model railroading is truly the art of compromise, and as its prac- titioners model railroaders daily face that challenge from concept through construc- tion to operation of their creations. If truth be told, however, the universal aim of railroad modelers everywhere is to find a rea- son for as many different locomotives as possible with as many different consists as possible to have as many different things to do as often as possible on their layouts. Without heavily massaging reality, most Few pictures better illustrate Mineola’s modeling potential than this 1953 photograph by William prototypes don't cooperate much toward E. Warden Jr. From the Mineola Boulevard grade crossing elimination overpass just east of that end. Mineola Station, Warden aimed his camera eastward down the mainline and captured an But suppose someone were to describe a oncoming passenger run off the Port Jefferson branch with one of the Long Island Railroad’s ubiquitous G5 ten-wheelers on the point. In the foreground an Alco S-1 takes its train south on real place on a busy east-west mainline the Hempstead branch. Curving to the north beneath the westbound G5 and its consist are the where a variety of consists appeared three tracks of the Oyster Bay Branch. And just across the mainline Nassau Tower oversees the times an hour in each direction (and that's activity, which is just one of the many events it must deal with daily. While the tracks to when things were slow); where freight Hempstead were removed in the 1960s, the junction to Oyster Bay remains today. Warden’s picture appeared in the January, 1971 issue ofTrains and again most recently on page 63 of drags had to contend with that traffic as they Model Railroad Planning 2004, in which a track plan is presented for modeling Mineola as part of set out and picked up cars; and where not a linear shelf layout. A back issue of thatTrains magazine might be hard to find, but MRP 2004 is continued on page 5 readily available from Kalmbach Publishing. roaders, the division is theonly place they interact directly with the NMRA through Mixed Consist clinics, contests and the Achievement editor’s notes / WALTER WOHLEKING Program. The exception occurs when it EDITOR and PUBLISHER ALICE IN NMRA LAND comes time to pay dues, and it is then that Walter G. Wohleking Paul Allard, NMRA Trustee for the members don't see the NMRA as respon- 5 Howard Drive NER, recently reported to NER President, sive. They don't think they get their Huntington NY 11743-3032 Ken May that, among other things, the money's worth, and this is far and away the (631) 757-0580 (Phone) NMRA intended to increase Affiliate greatest contributor to the alarming decline (775) 540-9743 (Fax) Member dues to $33 from the $23 that they in membership that has been the stimulant [email protected] are now. (See story on page 4). And in the for the Long Range Plan. ASSOCIATE EDITOR January, 2005Coupler, President May The Long Range Plan is very impor- John MacGown responded, “First let me say this: there is tant and the effort that went into it admira- THE CANNON BALL NO dues increase!” ble. But in the end it is about the philoso- is published quarterly by Sunrise Trail Division, Inc. of the Northeastern Region of the National Model Railroad What? Of course there’s an increase. phy and reorganization of the NMRA. Association, Inc. for the benefit of the model railroading So what’s all this spinning really about? Whatever benefits ultimately ensue to the community. Raising only the dues of members rank and file will have to dribble down. In SUBSCRIPTIONS who have chosen not to receive Scale Rails other words, business as usual for this very start with the first issue of a volume. Rates for the U.S. leads the NMRA to conclude that the sub- top down organization. and possessions are $7.00 per year. Please make check or money order payable toSunrise Trail Division . Send scription to its oft criticized publication is At a time when the NMRA should be requests for new subscriptions, renewals or address worth $12, the cost difference between the dealing vigorously and directly with a levy changes toCannon Ball, c/o Walter G. Wohleking , at the that a large segment of the membership above address. unchanged Regular and newly increased Affiliate memberships. Following that regard as too high for value received, it is CONTRIBUTIONS about to experience a loss in disposable Articles, photographs and artwork are welcome in either premise, this must mean the subscription hardcopy or as computer files. Copy is due by the 1st of rate has been $22 up to now. Thus, in one income that will almost surely demand a February, May, August, and November and should be brilliant master stroke the NMRA wants to duesincrease . The $2 per member stipend sent to the Editor at the above address. Submitted material will be returned upon request. give members a huge magazine bargain, to the regions, which begins in 2005, and strike a mighty blow against those who say the continuing erosion in membership will Scale Rails isn't worth what it costs (which cost the NMRA around $3.30 per member seems to be just about everyone, except each year. And if the Affiliate dues in- maybe those producing it), and up the crease causes 1,000 of these members not amount members can deduct as a charita- to renew, as the NMRA has indicated it ble contribution on income tax returns might, you can add another $1.15 to that (though one must wonder how the IRS will amount. view a 43% increase in a deduction, when One way for the NMRA to raise dues SUNRISE TRAIL DIVISION, INC. there has been 'NO dues increase'). without further alienating membership is Kevin Katta, President to offset the increase by giving something [email protected] Affiliate dues are 43% more than last Walter G. Wohleking, Secretary year, yet “there is NO dues increase”. The of substance back to members. STD AP [email protected] Scale Rails subscription rate is 92% less Chairman Mike Siegel proposes that the Kenneth Szekratar, Treasurer than last year, yet no changes were re- NMRA arrange for rebates by manufactur- [email protected] quired to accomplish this. Is this just con- ers, but only to current NMRA members, DIRECTORS John Jaklitsch summate political rhetoric, an intended for purchase of their products. If imple- [email protected] insult to our intelligence, or have we been mented, Siegel’s innovative suggestion John MacGown beamed into some NMRA parallel uni- could in one stroke stimulate sales of [email protected] Michael Martin verse populated by Lewis Carroll and model railroad equipment, allow the manu- [email protected] George Orwell wanabees? facturer a tax deduction and effectively Steven E. Perry The NMRA's action, Ken May's view reduce a member's dues to zero or even [email protected] of it and the disdain both show for the result in credit toward future dues. But for Michael H. Siegel [email protected] 2,000 or so Affiliate Members is symptom- this idea to go forward, the NMRA would Fernand Washington atic of what ails the NMRA and what the have to contact businesses, sell the pro- [email protected] Long Range Plan (LRP), as needed as it is, gram and make the deals. In other words it Andrew Wasowicz [email protected] will do nothing to fix. would have to devote more time and en- NER DIRECTOR Like politics, all model railroading is ergy to addressing the needs of the rank and Steven E. Perry local. Relatively few of us attend national file directly and less rearranging manage- ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM or regional conventions, when our own ment and organizational deck chairs on the Michael H. Siegel division is not the host (at the NER 2003 model railroading equivalent of the PUBLICITY Fall Convention in Islandia, attendance Titanic. John MacGown from outside the STD was less than 3%). The NMRA can't function without Steven E. Perry Nor do most of us care about the national model railroaders. But serious model rail- CONTESTS and regional implications of the LRP. Our roaders long ago stopped regarding Joseph Bux [email protected] interaction with the NMRA is at the divi- NMRA membership as a necessity. WEBSITE sional level. As our brochure states, “The What’s desperately needed now is some- www.SunriseTrailDiv.org Sunrise Trail Division is the NMRA up thing to prevent them from regarding John Jaklitsch, Webmaster close and personal.” For most model rail- NMRA membership as a luxury.

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