What a whirlwind month this has been! I hosted an operating session, participated in two op sessions as part of a Railroad Prototype Modeler (RPM) event, and attended another RPM. Along the way, several models were completed.
The Wheeling Freight Terminal operating session was actually on September 28th. Not quite October, but it was part of the excitement. The lead photo captures the freight house and team yard crews sorting out the inbound freight. Charles, David, Drew, and Steve had another productive day working the terminal.
I attended the Mid-Atlantic RPM meet in metro Baltimore next and drove down with Greg Wiggins, a local modeler focused on the Rutland and D&H lines. He posts regular updates on the Model Railroad Hobbyist Forum.
We operated on John King’s HO scale Baltimore & Ohio Shenandoah Subdivision set in 1949. I worked at the Winchester yard with Matt Hurst and had a blast.
Matt is on the left in this photo that documents the two of us surviving the session and enjoying it.
We also had the chance to operate on Rich Steinmann’s HO scale Erie-Lackawanna layout. I worked in the main yard with Paul Catapano. We kept the freight moving on the E-L! I filed away several layout ideas and photos from Rich’s layout. The waybill organizer and pocket divider cards seemed to work well.
We visited a couple of layouts that were open for RPM attendees. Todd Hermann’s Lehigh & New England captures the feel of the Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, area he models. Three other railroads connect with the L&NE here. Todd is hoping to add more of the Lehigh Valley mainline soon.
Lance Mindheim opened the doors at his home and we took in Lance’s main layout and two smaller layouts. There were many more mental notes and photos snapped during our visit. While Lance models the contemporary scene, his structure methods can be used for my 1926 era, too.
The Mid-Atlantic RPM was held at the Hilton Doubletree near the BWI Airport. I enjoyed many of the presentations and seeing modeling friends. I’ve posted a gallery of images from the event. Most of them were taken in the model display room but there are additional layout photos.
A couple weeks later, I traveled to a western Chicago suburb for RPM Naperville. This prototype modeler event has been held for at least thirty years. The clinic schedule was loaded with thirty-two presentations and all were repeated throughout the two day event. Exceptional N and HO scale modular layouts were set up and running
The model display room had more models representing pre-1940 prototypes than I’ve seen a while. Steve Hile displayed several Armour refrigerator cars that complemented his presentation. I’ve shared a gallery of photos on my pBase pages.
One of the best parts about these events is the face to face time with friends we correspond with via email. The image above captures members of a Pre-Depression Era railroad modelers group at RPM Naperville. A couple other members who attended are missing from this photo. Several of this bunch gave presentations and it was great to hear and see their work. Sharing meals, drinks, and sitting around conversing and cajoling makes the event even more worthwhile.
I hope this blog post and the photo galleries encourage you to attend a railroad prototype modeler meet or two in the next year. I host the RPM Calendar as a resource page on this blog. I update this as best as I can each month. Check it out and see what event works for you.
I know I mentioned completing a few models this past month. I think I’ll cover some of those in the next few blog posts. There’s always more to share and I’d rather not ramble along on this post.
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