Jim Allen received his Golden Spike Award and Master Builder, Structures certificates.

Photos contributed by Jack Haynes

Minutes of the Meeting

Clerk's Report - Carolina Southern Division Meeting

Saturday, November 17, 2007

The meeting was held at 10:00 at the Brookford Town Hall, home of Wade's Train Town display layout.  There were 17 members in attendance.

Members viewed the layout and noted the progress Division members have made in restoring it over the past year.  Both main lines, the trolley line, and most side tracks are operational.  Most of the buildings and scenes on the city residential end, the city business district side, and the carnival area have been completed.  Buildings have been spotted in the industrial side and the yard end, but final locations have not been determined and lighting and scene detailing are still to be completed.

Gil Brauch provided an overview of the history of the layout which was the retirement project of a local resident who was a double amputee and built and detailed the layout from a wheelchair.  Gil described the work that has been done so far and highlighted several areas where work is still needed.  Division members were encouraged to lend a hand by working directly on the layout or taking buildings or rolling stock home for reconditioning.

The meeting moved to the Town Council meeting room.

The clerk had nothing to report.

The Treasurer was not present, but had submitted a report to the Superintendent who reviewed it.  He noted two income items of the Division share of the dues sent to the Region by National.  Jack Haynes provided a brief explanation of an income item from the Levine Museum of the New South which was a donation recognizing the assistance Division members had provided to fix a display layout at the museum.  The museum had contacted the Division through the Help Line on our web page.  More details will be provided in an upcoming Brass Pounder article.

Gil Brauch, Webmaster, encouraged members to submit articles, photos, or other material for the web site.  He and Dave Chance (AP Chairman) explained that if someone presents a clinic and then puts the handouts/overheads/slides on the web site, he/she can earn AP points for AP Author, and /or volunteer.  Also since the web site is accessible to anyone, material there can count toward the National level points.

AP Chairman Dave Chance presented Jim Allen with three awards, Golden Spike, a Merit Award - Structures, and the Structures AP Certificate.  He then described some of the basics of judging, explained that judging for Merit Awards need not be at a contest, but can be done at home, at a Division meeting, an RMU session, or a train show; anywhere the model can be viewed and evaluated by a qualified judge.  Most members have built some models, and they can ask for them to be judged.  Having a model judged can help the modeller become more proficient and reach award level by pointing out minor issues that could be corrected on that model or on a future project.

To get started on an AP Certificate, Dave encouraged members to start on the NMRA web site.  The web site has forms, instructions, and help with judging standards.  Also on the initial page of each certificate, there are often links to helpful descriptive information on how individuals earned that award.

As an example, Dave pointed out that for each month during which a member performed some work on Wade's Train Town layout, they would earn 1/2 point for Volunteer.  Gil has kept complete records of everyone who has worked on it and can provide it to the member on request.

Rick Knight, Superintendent, stated that there would be two open houses on December 1.  His own layout and Jack Parker's P&W.  He would like to see more and hopes that other NMRA members will plan to have their layouts open next year.  He noted that NMRA members have insurance through the NMRA for any occasion that they open their layout for a Division event.

There was extensive discussion on the recent column in Scale Rails about requiring Division officers and others with positions of responsibility to be NMRA members.  It was generally understood that this did not include attendees at Division events that are intended to be open to the public (such as train shows or our RMU) or for guest speakers at Division meetings.  More information is certain to be coming from National on this subject.  The Scale Rails column stated that the Divisions would be required to certify that its officers and Directors were NMRA members.

Rick asked anyone to let him know whenever they noticed something that indicated that there was interest in railroads, such as a mailbox or lawn ornament with a railroad theme.  He has and will contact people directly to see if they might be interested in joining us or sharing their interest with us.

Rick asked the group for suggestions for meetings in 2008.  Michele mentioned a large scale train in Kannapolis Park recently moved there from Alabama.  Gil mentioned some garden railroads in Charlotte.  Jack Monette mentioned the Aberdeen Carolina and Western.  Other sites brought up were Aberdeen and Rockfish, and a return to the Lancaster and Chester.

Rick stated that the meeting on January 19, 2008 will start with an RMU in the morning.  Four rooms are reserved at the First Baptist Church in Uptown Charlotte.  Free parking is available there.  This will be followed by lunch at Jillian's restaurant, in a room overlooking the new Lynx light rail line.  Parking is available next to the restaurant by the light rail station.  The restaurant will provide lunch from a partial menu.  Detail schedule and directions will be provided on the web site and in the January Brass Pounder.

The Division Annual Business Meeting will be at 12:30, following lunch.

Jack Monette, Director, said that the Directors had several nominations set for next year's officers, with Rick Knight, Jack Haynes, and Dick Bronson offered as candidates   for Superintendent, Clerk, and Treasurer, respectively,  Ed Locklin and Michele Chance for the Director opening.  They are working on a nomination for Asst Superintendent to complete the Directors' slate.

Dave Chance offered appreciation on behalf of the whole Division for Rick's efforts as Superintendent the past three years.  The members present joined in showing their appreciation.  Dave also encouraged members to lend assistance to Rick to put together Division activities and for Rick to contact him and other officers when he can use some help.

Rick stated his appreciation for the very helpful participation of a visiting NMRA member, Carl Wessel, who has been located in Charlotte for the last two years on a job assignment building the light rail system.  His current assignment ends in December.

Carl thanked Rick, but stated that after this assignment ends, he will have three weeks off to visit home and then will be back in Charlotte for another six months to work on pre-engineering for the next phase of the rail system.

Meeting adjourned at 12:00.