I drove to Springfield, Massachusetts, for the New England Railroad Prototype Modeler meet on the last weekend of May. This is also known as the Northeast RPM.
I took a scenic route to Springfield to avoid the traffic joys experienced when crossing the George Washington bridge and the Bronx and Westchester byways. I stopped in Danbury, Connecticut, to see what I could at the Danbury Railway Museum. They have weekend hours of operation but I could view some of their collection from the station platforms.
They have the double-ended crane that was used by the New York Central (NYC) in the Grand Central Terminal trackage, which remains in working order if it is needed. What caught my eye was the shallow fishbelly flat car coupled to the crane. This one of 400 Spec 173, Lot-255F, steel flat cars built in 1910. We could use one of these in HO scale.
The museum has a large collection of locos and rolling stock. I’ll need to visit during their regular weekend hours.
It was an easy drive to Springfield from Danbury. I checked in with NERPM ringleader Dave Owens and set up several models in the large display room. There were almost 800 models in this room by late Friday. There were N and O scale models among the HO displays. I snapped quite a few photos and have uploaded them to a gallery. I hope you enjoy them.
Several learning stations were in operation during the RPM. In the above image, Ted DiIorio leads people through various weathering media and techniques. There were a couple other weathering demonstrations rolling, plus ballast application, soldering, resin kit building, and hand-laying track. These were in addition to the thirty five presentations running all day.
There were many conversations all through the RPM event. Mal Houck and Stephen Funaro are seen in the above image discussing modeling techniques. With so many models on display, there were ongoing discussions among pairs of modelers or a bunch.
It’s the sharing of ideas, information, and techniques that keep me attending railroad prototype modeler events. These are wonderful social events where we make connections and renew acquaintances. The RPM gets me back into the mindset to tackle a new kit, finish a project, or fix a problem spot on the layout. There are many RPM events in the months ahead. Check the RPM Calendar to see what is happening close to you, or for an event that fits your schedule.
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