October Superintendent Message


There’s so much more to this hobby than just “building trains in your basement!” Sometimes you go to someone else’s basement to play trains. 😀 This month I helped again at the Fall Festival in Saratoga Springs at Shay Park where we run 1 ½” scale trains that people can ride. There were over 840 riders this year! I also went to the Gerald’s N Scale Milwaukee Road for an ops session. The outdoor ones use your muscles when it derails (luckily only a couple times.) The tiny indoor ones test your eyesight and finger dexterity when rerailing. Both can be a challenge. 😂

It is that time again to look for a new meeting place. The Redwood Recreation Center has been good. I like the location and parking has been easy compared to other places we’ve been. Even with moving to the smaller room, it still worked for us, even though it was a little inconvenient. Next year we cannot even rent the room we are in now during the summer and they are looking to renovate it before that so it might be unavailable with short notice when the funding comes through. So if you know of a place, have any ideas/suggestions, or would like to be on the committee to search out a new suitable location, let me know.

In the meantime, I encourage you to get together with your fellow model railroaders when you can. Sometimes my family even shares in the fun! There are many activities in the division, in clubs and even communities where you can share your love of model railroading and that is how we can enjoy the journey together!

Jim Wanlass, MMR #585

Superintendent
Northern Utah Division of the NMRA