| Volume 40 Issue 8 | April 2001 |
| Volume 40 Issue 8 | April 2001 |
You may have heard by now that the division may finally be on track to getting its own home - sort of.
One of the things I’ve heard rumblings about since I joined the division in 1993 is the search for a permanent home of our own. The advantages are many - a known facility from month to month, a place to store division archival material (that’s not under the current superintendent’s layout!), possibly a place to build a layout or to store a portable layout. The disadvantages are a mortgage and insurance, and the fact that we’d only be using it for a few hours a month - not exactly a good return on the investment.
Brian Hackett, Executive Director of the Dayton - Montgomery County Historical Society attended our board meeting in March, and laid out the following scenario: if Memorial Hall, once vacated in 2002, became a museum facility, and if the Historical Society became a major tenant of that museum facility, would Division 3 head up the construction of a layout depicting historical Dayton?
One of the scenes that I expect would be a ‘got-to-have’ on any layout depicting Dayton is the Dayton Union Terminal, seen here in a postcard from the teens.
In return, the Historical Society would provide the capital and floor space needed to construct the layout, storage facilities for tools and materials, space for archival materials and access to a meeting room on a regular basis. Time frame for starting this would be sometime in late 2002 or 2003, depending on funding and logistics.
My major concern was that we not get roped into an arrangement similar to the San Diego Railroad Club, who has had to commit to providing members to keep the layouts running for many hours a week. We simply don’t have the manpower to do that on a continuing basis. To my relief, Brian stated that he expected to have staff provide that function, assuming we would consent to train them.
My other major concern was that we not get into a situation where we would have to make a major time commitment in order to get the layout completed within a short time. Again, Brian assured us that if we could get the layout minimally functional, with a section of it ‘complete’, that would be adequate. He offered to arrange for us to meet with the exhibit designers to work out details of the layout space, once we got to that stage.
This seems like a marvelous opportunity for the Division, if it comes to fruition. We would get a home, with none of the liabilities of owning the facility ourselves. In return, we would have to (shudder) do something we love to do - build a model railroad. The resources of the Historical Society would be at our disposal to ensure historical accuracy.
If we are smart about how we do this, this could be a project where people could complete certain requirements towards their AP certificates. There are many things like structures, rolling stock, motive power, electrical, and civil engineering that can be accomplished on this layout, as long as careful records are kept.
What is the downside? If this happens (and it is early in the process - many things could happen to derail this project), the major concern I have is that it would be a major construction project, done on our spare time, with hard deadlines. I do not have time to head this up, although I would be interested in chairing a crew section on layout design, structures, or interurban modeling. But we’ll be talking about a five-year-plus project, with a budget in the neighborhood of $30,000 - $50,000. It is not something that can be run haphazardly - it will require a professional attitude and commitment. Perhaps the Historical Society could provide the management for this - I don’t know.
What I do know is that it could be a golden opportunity - one that could provide a terrific forum for us to fulfill one of our major organizational goals, to provide educational opportunities to the public. I’ll keep you posted as things progress.
March Meeting Recap
Thanks to Fred Schneider and Don Kriegbaum for presenting at the March meeting. Fred did an entry-level clinic on track planning, and Don did his clinic on locomotive maintenance. Thanks to William Niebes for getting a notice into the Dayton Daily - we got three people there who wouldn’t have been there otherwise. While three may not seem like a lot, it represents a 10 percent increase! Thanks to all of those who helped make this meeting a success!
April Preview
In April, we’ll be at the Greene County Historical Society, with a presentation on their layout and the railroads of Xenia. I haven’t seen the layout in years, and given the opportunity we have in Dayton, I’m interested in looking at what they’ve done and how they approached it.
Also in April, we’ll be having the Dalmatian Switching District / Evergreen Scale Models “What can you build from a sample pack” Contest. I puzzled over mine for quite a while before coming up with a game plan. I’m looking forward to seeing what we all come up with! Additionally, the monthly contest is logging.
Finally, on April 28, we will be holding our annual Spouse Appreciation Dinner at the Chop House. I don’t know about all of you, but I know that my wife certainly deserves a night out for putting up with my hobby (mental illness?) over the last year! Look elsewhere in this issue of the Callboard for more information.
Convention Corner
The convention committee is still meeting monthly in preparation for the May MCR Regional Convention in Louisville, where we’ll have to be prepared to make a presentation plugging our convention. We hope to have our presentation finalized at the April convention meeting, at Brian Petroziello’s house on 18 April, 7 pm. If you’re not planning on going to the Louisville convention, it’s not too late to reconsider! The regional conventions are always a good time, and in addition to the train stuff, I’m hoping to make it to the Louisville Slugger museum and maybe a Cardinals game!
We do need to get a couple of volunteers to help judge the model contest. Experience is not required! If you’re going to the convention, see me to find out more information. It’s a great way to meet other people from the region and to get an idea of how the contest is run!
That’s it for this month - happy modeling!
Ray
© 1999, 2001 Division 3, MCR, NMRA