LOL - Luppino on Line

Childhood Memories

2011-12-29T20:43:00.008-05:00

Childhood Memories - Thanksgiving

When I was a child Thanksgiving marked the start of the Christmas Season. There was a big parade in downtown Pottsville in the morning. The city turned on the lights that decorated the pole of every street light and were draped across the streets. Thanksgiving dinner was always crowded with aunts, uncles and cousins. We had it at my maternal grandmother’s house. In the evening we would go to my paternal grandparents’ place where there was a lot more to eat. The long wait for Christmas had begun.

Childhood Memories – Christmas

Decorations, other than the tree, went up on Christmas Eve. That went up the last weekend before Christmas. Of course, we had the obligatory trainset running around the tree. We went to bed but had trouble sleeping. Finally, morning came. We opened our gifts and then went to church. Mass on Christmas Day always seemed special. From there we went to my paternal grandparents’ for Christmas Dinner. This was actually my grandmother’s second big culinary exercise in about 12 hours. There was the Christmas Eve Dinner of the Seven Fishes and we only got to that when we were older. It began late in the evening, about 2200 hours, I think and it was 0100 before we got home and to bed. By contrast Christmas Dinner was relatively simple but there was enough food for an army, all of it made by my grandmother and her daughters.

Following Diner we went around the neighborhood visiting relatives and neighbors. Everyone had a train of some sort around their tree and we had to see all of them and watch them run. It was great fun. Decorating with lights around windows and doorways was very popular. Walking through a doorway trimmed in colored lights was like walking through an entrance to a magic land. There was a tree, trains and snacks of all types. We and our cousins played with the toys received from “Santa” while the adults talked about, what I have no idea. Everyone was playing Christmas music of some sort and you heard Gene Autry sing “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer about 30,000 times between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

The Twelve Days of Christmas that started on Christmas Eve ended with Epiphany and we took down the decorations and packed them away until next Christmas. For a few lucky ones, the trainset stayed up a bit longer or, if we were really lucky it got moved to a place in the attic or
basement.

Christmas is not like that now. The only reason the season does not begin right after Labor Day is that Halloween generates a lot of retail sales (the most of any other holiday than Christmas). Instead of focusing on family, friends and church, we now are bombarded with ads and commercials urging us to spend, spend, spend. We are made to feel that unless we spend a lot on money on someone we do not love them. It is too bad because we seem to have lost the entire “Reason for the Season.”

It is disappointing to see people taking down their decorations the day after Christmas because “Christmas is over until next year.” It is only just getting started but they do not realize that. They are missing the best time of the year when there is a break in everyday life for most of us and we can get together with our friends and families to enjoy being with those we love and cherish. Too bad people do not realize this as they are missing something very special.

Oh, The Weather Outside...

2011-11-28T15:26:00.007-05:00

I thought that as long as I am on here I would put up something more about the weather here in Lancaster County. On the day of my post of 26 October it snowed. Some places received almost a foot of snow and others, like here at the office, might have had three inches. It has been a very long time since we had a measurable snow in October. To make this even more unusual, by Sunday it was all gone except for where it was piled up by snowplows. As I write this it is 65 degrees outside and it is the Monday after Thanksgiving! If nothing else the weather is keeping things interesting.

A Big Step Forward, I hope

2011-11-28T15:25:00.000-05:00

Every member of TCA can have free admission to The National Toy Train Museum, and is entitled to some research time in The Toy Train Reference Library. Yet, most members have no idea just what is there. For some members, distance is the problem. We are trying to change that.

After several years of planning and months of work by staff and volunteers alike, we have something that I think can be appreciated by members and nonmembers no matter where they live. Click on http://www.nttmuseum.org/exhibits/layouts/standard/index.htm and you will be able to see some of the rare or historic buildings on the Standard Gauge Layout. With the click of a mouse you can also get an engineer’s view of one of the loops on the layout.

Something like this is not the work of one person. It truly was a team effort. As a result we have many people to thank because without their hard work it would never have been done at all. In no particular order they are, Administrative Assistant Melody Rogers and the Education and Museum Committee for identifying the buildings, getting them ready to photograph and providing the preliminary track plan drawing, Librarian Jan Athey and the Library & Historical Committee for providing the caption information for the building photos, Publications Editor Tim Stier for creating the track plan in a format ready for the website, Donna Wilcox for the great building photos, Mark Meyers at SR Film Productions for the trip around the layout, and Jim Alexander at JimQuest Communications, our webmaster, for putting the entire project together and getting it up on line.

All of us here hope that this is the first of many efforts to bring The National Toy Train Museum to a wider audience.

Here Comes Winter

2011-10-26T14:52:00.000-04:00

We are now a bit more than a month into fall here in Lancaster County. The leaves are changing color about one week later than usual. This could be because of all the rain we have had since August. A lackluster tourist trade in September, buoyed only by the Thomas the Tank Engine Event at the Strasburg Rail Road has carried over into October. Short days will become even shorter when we revert back to Standard time.

Despite the lack of visitors some activities continue unabated. Farm work is intense this time of year. There is harvesting to be done and fields need to be readied for next spring. Whether Amish or English (to the Amish, anyone who is not Amish is English no matter where you are from or how you look), farmers have their work cut out for them as all this needs to finish before the first snowfall. There is the $64,000.00 question. When will we see out first snow? If it were left to me it would be never.

Like almost everyone else, I enjoyed snow when I was much younger. During my first twelve years of school every snowstorm held the potential of a day, or more off from school. While in college it became a reason for long romantic walks with a coed on campus. Once I got into the trucking business full time all that changed.
Equipment gets stuck and accidents occur at a distressing rate. People seem to disappear. At one place I worked we actually had more people marked off then we had available to work. All because of that slippery white stuff. I told my friends on Facebook that snow is really God’s punishment for the sins of Adam and Eve. Like sin, it looks beautiful but it is very bad for you.

The location of the National Headquarters is a unique place to be in the winter. Once the surrounding fields are harvested there is nothing to block the wind so it becomes quite intense. Add snow to that, especially the powdery stuff, and the drifting makes this area almost impassable. Because of the “lay of the land” across Paradise Lane, our driveway is often drifted shut, with some drifts reaching five or more feet in height.

I have seen drifts at least that high and thirty feet into the parking lot the surface is bare. Our plowing contractor does a great job keeping the driveway and parking lot open so we can work. So here we are getting ready for another winter in Lancaster County.

On Track With TCA

2011-10-12T10:52:00.005-04:00

In my previous post I talked about how I think we should see bigger numbers of visitors at the National Toy Train Museum Facebook page and Twitter Account. With our many members who have Internet access, the number of LIKEs on Facebook and FOLLOWERs on Twitter are disappointing.

An Internet area that is proving popular with members, however, is On Track With TCA, an electronic newsletter sent via E-mail. Sometimes called an E-blast, as it goes to a large number of people, this E-publication has about 13,000 recipients and that number is growing. We are finding this to be an excellent way to communicate with a large part of the membership in a timely fashion.

This is definitely a "work in progress" as we try to include several short items of interest to TCA members. We are seeing a positive response to this as Items offered for sale always spike after On Track is sent out. Another indication of how popular this has become is the large number of people who tell me that they enjoy getting it.

At some point, we would like to publish this on a regular basis. Stay tuned for that and some other interesting things on the Internet.

Where Are You?

2011-10-12T10:04:00.013-04:00

Back in April I talked about how your National Toy Train Museum can now be found on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NationalToyTrainMuseum) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/toytrainmuseum).

Our Association seems to suffer from an extreme lack of curiosity as you have not responded very well. The Museum has gotten a LIKE from 463 people (about 90% of them NOT TCA members) and Twitter has garnered 160 FOLLOWERS. Again most of them NOT TCA members.

As we currently have about 29,500 members I am thinking that we should be seeing much higher numbers of members hitting the LIKE button on Facebook. As recently as one year ago, the fastest growing demographic on Facebook was people age 50 and up. Mature adults are discovering that Facebook is an excellent way to keep up with far-flung children and grandchildren. TCA members definitely fall into that category.

Twitter is a different story and I can easily understand the lower numbers there. Twitter users are considerably younger than the average of TCA member. You will find most individuals on Twitter are in their teens and twenties along with many celebrities of various types (it seems some of them have a "Tweeter" as part of their entourage). Businesses and cultural institutions also use Twitter and we are a part of that group.

I would urge you to take a peek at one of these in the near future.

IMPORTANT - TCA VISA Card

2011-10-05T11:46:00.017-04:00

The economic downturn has affected everyone in some way. TCA is no exception. One of those ways is the TCA VISA Card. The card issuer, Bank of America, has reviewed all of their affinity card programs. Based upon the results of that review, TCA no longer meets their renewal criteria.

Please note the following:
· This program will end on 31 January 2012
· No new applications will be accepted as of now
· Current cardholders will receive notification of the ending of the program in their next few statements.
· Their cards will be replaced by Bank of America with generic Bank of America cards, if those cardholders wish to continue to use a Bank of America card.
· Current cardholders may terminate their accounts if they wish but need to be familiar with the method of doing so.

This is not good news for TCA. Over the years, despite some member opposition, this program has produced a significant amount of revenue that helped to forestall dues increases and subsidize membership benefits.

As is the case with every other business and organization in this country, we will need to examine what we do and how we do it.

What I Did On My Summer Nonvacation

2011-08-24T16:00:00.005-04:00

Here we are at the tail end of August and a lot has been happening with TCA. So, settle back while tell you all about it.

The April Eastern Division meet at York was very wet. I can think of a lot of places I would rather be in the rain than walking around the York Fairgrounds BUT I did get to see a lot of folks I have not seen in quite some time. Perhaps the rain washed them out. While the economy is not the best people are still coming to York and other meets. It is not all “gloom and doom.”

If you missed out on the National Convention in Sacramento you missed a really good time and this is coming from someone who is actually working almost the entire time I am there. I got to see the California State Railroad Museum which houses a UP Cab Forward steam locomotive INSIDE the building and the Thomas Sefton Collection of toy trains.

The Cab Forward is an amazing piece of machinery and sitting in the fireman’s seat gave me a small idea of what it was like to be riding one these things.

The Sefton Collection is nicely exhibited and includes an operating Standard Gauge Layout. This layout has one locomotive equipped with a video camera that feeds overhead TVs. You get an engineer’s eye view of the layout and it really is different. The exhibit cases are all built to look like various Lionel buildings.

The excursions I rode were fun, no doubt about it. They covered some vast distances and you could take this several ways. You could use the long bus rides to get to know your fellow members, you could complain about the length of the ride or you could sleep. Each bus found members exercising one of those options.

I will say that the views were nothing short of spectacular. I will always remember seeing Lake Tahoe as we descended to it from the Sierras, Yosemite Valley with El Capitan and Half Dome and the various falls and the wineries from the Napa Valley Wine Train.

My hat is off to the TCA members who worked on the Convention. Every one of you did an excellent job. The Association is fortunate to have you as members.

Tourism in Lancaster County has been lackluster this year as the sluggish economy continues to take its toll. Only the Corn Maze a mile or so from us is having a good year. For the first time that anyone can remember, the Strasburg Rail Road did not run trains on the half hour in July, although they are doing so in August. Other businesses are doing what they deem necessary to keep afloat until things improve, and they will.

Finally, we are looking at the Fall of the year as a time of changing colors, harvest celebrations and people coming to visit to enjoy the cooler weather. I failed to mention that July was HOT! Was it ever!

August has been wet and to add to the excitement we had an earthquake rumble through here on 23 August that was felt from Georgia to Canada and as far west as Chicago. For about 15 to 20 seconds it was very shaky around here.

I will end this by saying, make sure you register for York, buy the 2012 Convention Cars and visit the museum store on line for some holiday gifts. Help the economy and your train collection at the same time.

Facebook? Twitter? What is TCA coming to?

2011-04-19T16:29:00.014-04:00

Well, friends, it had to happen. Yes, eventually TCA had to get into the 21st Century.

Well, at least The National Toy Train Museum has. You will find a page for the Museum on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/NationalToyTrainMuseum.

You can "Follow" the Museum on Twitter by going here: http://twitter.com/toytrainmuseum.

If you could not get to Open House and Toy Train Fair the day before the Eastern Division Meet opened you can catch some of the action here: http://www.tcamembers.org/netvision/index.htm.

My guess is that I do not need to explain all of the above if you are reading this blog.

We have also done an update on the home page of www.tcamembers.org. Things are happening in the digital world of TCA. If all of his seems like a lot in a short period of time I would point out that some of us have been working on these projects for quite some time. It is serendipity, if you will, that so many things have fallen into place at one time. Personally, I like it.

I think that it s important for TCA to build and maintain a strong Web presence. While that is not inexpensive, we have been able to accomplish a lot because of dedicated employees working with exceptional vendors who have done a great job at an affordable price.

Election Results

2011-04-12T11:13:00.020-04:00

This is not CNN or FOX News but LBS (Luppino Blogging System) and here are results for the recently concluded TCA Election.

President-elect - Carol Redman McGinnis

Vice-president - Robert Obara

Treasurer - William J. Kotek

Secretary - Christie M. Wilson

Congratulations to all of the above and my thanks to all who ran, your interest in TCA is appreciated.

I would like to note that approximately 17% of the membership voted. This is disappointing and I would appreciate any suggestions on how to increase that percentage.

York Update

2011-04-12T09:44:00.013-04:00

People who live in Pennsylvania know we have only two seasons: Winter and Construction. The latter season has begun. In my travels around the York area I can tell you that there are many small projects that will delay traffic for varying amounts of time.

There is intersection construction on Route 30. For those of you coming from the East on Route 30 you will encounter construction on the bridge over the Susquehanna River at Columbia. This is a complete bridge deck rehabilitation and will not end until the end of 2012. You are looking at 4 "York's" worth of construction in this area.

Current weather predictions are for showers Wednesday, Sunny on Thursday, Mostly Cloudy on Friday and Rain/Thunder on Saturday. Oh well, it is April in South Central Pennsylvania. Anyway, have a good time.

150-50-10

2011-01-20T21:32:00.022-05:00

Years ago the Philadelphia Phillies had two terrific announcers: Harry Kalas and Rich "Whitey" Ashburn. Both have passed away but for those of us who hung on every word, whether it was on TV or radio, the memories are still vivid. Whitey would sometimes respond to a remark by Kalas by saying, "Hard to believe, Harry, hard to believe."

When I look at the calendar I have that same feeling. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. I remember being in eight grade in 1961 and how we met after school to read how the various States seceded from the Union. We decided that we would do the same and wrote to the newly inaugurated John F. Kennedy to inform him that we were seceding from the Union. The elderly nun who was our eight grade teacher was beside herself when she learned this and she predicted swift retribution for our "nefarious deed."

Much to our surprise, rather than federal troops, President Kennedy (or someone authorized to read and answer his mail) sent us a letter praising us for our interest in American History and for taking the time to think for ourselves and and take action on what we believed was right. While we nosily celebrated the beginning of the war, many things had changed by the time the centennial of the end of the war came around.

Kennedy was gone, struck down by an assassin's bullet, we were graduating from high school and some of us were facing our own war in Vietnam. Others would fight battles against drugs, alcohol and other things that ruin lives. When some younger folks today look in awe when they learn that "I lived in the 60's," I hasten to tell them that it was not what it was cracked up to be.

Now, here we are 150 years down the road from the beginning of the bloodiest war this country has ever fought and it seems that some of the issues from that war are still unresolved.

The headline in this morning's Lancaster paper talks about the ongoing controversy over spending for education and how the money should be distributed between public and private schools. This is a far cry from the headline fifty years ago.

On 20 January 1961 John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the President of the United States. A World War II veteran and hero and a Roman Catholic, he was the youngest man ever elected to the office. He was the first president born in the 20th century. "A whole bunch of firsts," as one pundit wrote on the op-ed page today.

While inaugural addresses are usually forgettable (and much of Kennedy's was, also), one line of Kennedy's stands out to this day, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

It became the mantra of what soon became known as the "Baby Boomer Generation." All through my years in high school and college we were urged by our peers to, "sign up, get involved, make a difference." We were asking what can we do? We actually believed we could make a difference because, as someone pointed out, we had the physical numbers to do it. Whatever "It" was.

Fifty years down the pike I am thinking, "What happened to all that energy, and desire to change the world?" Perhaps we succeeded in changing the world but it certainly was not completely for the better. Just look around.

What became of all the Boomers? Far too many of them grew up and became selfish, stingy, self-centered and obnoxious rectal openings whose children have a sense of entitlement that makes our parents heads spin.

We now come to the event that, in my mind marked the real dawn of the 21st Century. On a sunny day in September ten years ago nineteen people hijacked four airliners, flew them into buildings, and the ground in one display of selflessness and courage, and killed over 3,000 people. For the first time in its history our country was attacked, not by another nation, but by a group of crackpots who began their war by hijacking a religion.

Ten years down the road we find that we have managed to get involved in two other wars in what has to be the most volatile place on earth. We are no closer to defeating this elusive enemy than we were ten years ago. What do we have to show for it, so far?

A badly eroded list of rights for all citizens, for one thing. Unparalled govenment interference in our daily lives for another. I am still amazed that within two days after the attack the U. S. Government managed to determine that the real enemy was, and is, the American people. How else to explain things like the Patriot Act and the legalized sexual assaults that are taking place daily at U. S. airports by government employees? Take a look around folks. Hitler and Stalin had nothing on this crowd and it is both political parties doing it to us.

After looking back over the past 150 years, one has to wonder if we are headed in the right direction. We have gone from a nation where thousands gave their lives to end the enslavement of an entire group of people to being a nation where basic rights are trampled with impunity and far too many people believe that life is all about them being ecstatically happy every second of their existence and EVERYONE needs to make sure that happens.

"Hard to believe Harry, hard to believe."

Another Year Begins

2011-01-11T21:25:00.004-05:00

A lot of time had passed since my last posting. It is a new year although most of us over age 30 or so know that a change of years does not miraculously make things neither go away nor bring them into our lives.

I can say that 2010 was an especially bad year for me. By year end I had lost count of the number of people in my immediate circle that passed away. All losses deeply felt I can assure you. Added to that is the slow recovery my mother is making from surgery. At the age of 90 it will be a long process.

At TCA things have eased up a bit. The long awaited waste water treatment plant is complete. If you have been following this Blog you will remember the photos posted back in August. The plant has had a few “teething” problems but the contractor, operator and the engineer are addressing those in a timely fashion. My guess is that by the time it reaches its one-year anniversary it, and everything about it, will be old hat. Just in time I might add.

The Obama administration has made a major commitment to address the pollution issues in the Chesapeake Bay. Years ago a plan was made that included all of the states that contribute water to the Bay. To its credit, the Obama administration has finally taken the bull by the horns and told the states whose water runs into the Bay to get going on commitments made years ago to clean up the mess. There are a lot of them and Pennsylvania is a big source of both water and pollutants.

Of course, the source of the billions of dollars that are required to accomplish this are nowhere to be found and, frankly, some of the proposed solutions will, if enacted as written, pretty much devastate agriculture in a large section of the northeastern US.

Some folks are blaming Obama for this as if he personally devised the regulations that proposed by the EPA. Obama is just the latest in a long line of politicians of both parties who occupied the White house and felt a need to pander to various special interests because they have large amounts of cash to help defray the significant costs of running for office.

The real damage is done by faceless bureaucrats who claim to be motivated by a desire to “serve the public” as long as the wants of the “public” match their preconceived notions of what is good for everyone. Well, I did not begin this particular entry with the idea that I would, yet again, deplore the dearth of quality leadership as is evidenced by the “cream” of both parties being displayed in our national capital.

Suffice it to say that the short term future is not rosy for the most of the northeast as addressing years of mismanagement of the Chesapeake Bay will be an expensive fix. At least TCA can point to the fact that, while it took us a while to get moving on it, we implemented a solution that will help to make the Bay better and not worse. Granted we are a small part of the solution but I find that preferable to being a small part of the problem.

York Info

2010-09-13T10:32:00.011-04:00

By now all of you have read the latest edition to Clem's Primer on the upcoming Eastern Division Meet at the York, Pa. Fairgrounds. Here are some additional things to consider.

The US Route 30 bridge over the Codorous Creek is being rebuilt. This is at the intersection where you find the Billy Budd (now Days Inn) and the Round the Clock Diner. I was there last evening and based on what I see this project will not be done before the meet opens.

In the Strasburg area the Pa. State Police have been very active in enforcing the 25 mph speed limit on Routes 896 and 741. The 25 mph limit begins at the Borough Line on 896 north of town where the new alternate route begins. If you are coming south on 896 from York this is marked as Historic Drive. The 25 mph speed restriction ends east of the Strasburg Rail Road.

Residents and some businesses in this area have been complaining about speeding so the police have maintained a heavy presence ever since spring. Pa. speeding fines are based on the number of miles over the posted speed limit. The police have been very creative in finding places to hide a cruiser and they are using radar. A word to the wise is sufficient.

Bruce Manson 1929-2010

2010-09-12T11:30:00.007-04:00

Years ago, while a student at Central Catholic High School in Reading, PA, we had a series of announcements in the morning and afternoon. Every so often those morning announcements would begin with the phrase, "The Angel of Death has visited Central." That was followed by the announcement of the death of a faculty member but most of us already knew that.

So it is here that I sadly announce the death of Bruce D. Manson, Jr. Bruce was dedicated to TCA since at least the 1970's and served in several capacities. He is best known as editor of the Train Collectors Quarterly which is one of the finest publications around. Bruce was ably assisted by his wife Anna and they continued to offer guidance to Mark Boyd who was appointed as editor when Bruce retired. To honor Bruce he was named Editor Emeritis of the Quarterly. I have added a link below that will take you to Bruce's obituary. It on the website of the funeral home and I am not sure how long it will be up.

http://thegroffs.com/blog/?p=107

Need Change?

2010-08-28T11:33:00.019-04:00

Usually, I use this Blog to comment on issues relevant to my employer, the Train Collectors Association. This will be one of those occasional changes of pace.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I eat far too many meals outside the confines of my semi-palatial estate otherwise known as the Stalag 17 Condominium Association. (Hey, it is 7 PM, you are not going to sit outside and talk all night are you?) Recently, I visited a place that is still new to me. Everything was fine but I am not mentioning the name for the reason you will soon learn.

Food service establishments or "dining properties" as they are referred to in the Hospitality (tourist) Industry break out into two general types when it comes to paying the bill. In one, the customer goes to a central cashier. In the other, the customer pays the server.

As the one or two readers of this blog know, one of my favorite places to eat is Jennie's Diner on Route 30, about two blocks east of the intersection of Route 30 and PA 896. Payment there is at a cash register. You leave your tip on the counter or table. Jennie's does not accept checks, credit or debit cards. It is quick and easy.

Last evening, my plans unexpectedly changed and I went to a place close to home. This was my second visit and I will return, this experience notwithstanding. At the end of my meal the waitress asked if I wanted anything else. As I did not she left the check in one of those leather or faux leather folders that can hold cash or a credit card. My check was $7.73.

I placed a $20.00 bill in the folder and when the waitress came by she saw it an picked it up. Now here is what drives me to distraction about a lot of these places where you pay the server.

As she picks up the folder she says, "Do you need change?" I replied, "Give me a ten back out of that." I could have said a lot of things, one of them being, "Do you think you are that #$%^*(@ good that you rate a $12.00 tip on an $8.00 check?" However, I resisted.

I blame the owners of these places for not properly training their folks to handle this part of their responsibility. There are places in the area where the same situation is handled by the server saying, "I will be right back with your change." This is, in my opinion, a much more professional way to address this situation. I suppose many servers use the first method as they believe, rightly or wrongly, that otherwise the customer will not leave a tip.

I would find it difficult to believe that people who dine out as much as do Americans would not realize this. I do know from talking to the good folks at Jennie's that tips (and business) are down significantly since the onset of the "Great Recession." Unfortunately, it will be like that for quite some time.

The current economy not withstanding, I would like to see dining properties do a better job in this area. I can tell you that I am less inclined to be generous when I am not presented with some outlandish request.

Member Help Needed

2010-08-20T15:48:00.005-04:00

We know that someone attacked our website host on Friday 13 August and caused a lot of disruption, not only to TCA's sites but hundreds of others. Ever since, the folks at our website host, our webmaster and QuestFore (the people who developed the TCA X-change) have been working to restore service. Most of that work is complete. There are a few things that need to be "tweaked." That "tweaking" is the reason for this Blog entry.

I would appreciate our members visiting our sites and sending me an E-mail on any pages they find that are not working. I need specific pages and exactly what is not working. Please send that information me at yf101@verizon.net.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate it.

TCA Website Update

2010-08-19T15:59:00.003-04:00

Most of TCA's Internet presence has been restored. As of this writing, the store page on www.nttmuseum.org needs some work and QuestFore is still working on the TCA X-change. We are hopeful that all of this work will be finished today.

It appears that this was caused by someone in the Pasadena. CA area. Is anyone up for a road trip? JK (Just Kidding) as the younger generation says.

TCA Websites Down

2010-08-16T10:34:00.003-04:00

Folks, all is not well in Strasburg.

On Friday 13 August (could the date have something to do with this?) the website host for all of TCA's websites suffered an outage and they have been down ever since. We are also not receiving E-mail (this function is a part of our website package) so one of our primary ways of communicating with the vast majority of our members is also not available.

We are hoping that the problem will be corrected soon and we appreciate your patience.

Another Thank You

2010-08-03T23:59:00.003-04:00

This Thank You goes to TCA's Administrative Assistant, Melody Rogers, who provided the photos in my last blog entry, "The WWTP." I believe in giving credit where credit is due and Melody certainly deserves it on this one.

The WWTP

2010-08-03T23:10:00.041-04:00

Finally, after ten years, TCA has a working Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) at our property in Strasburg. During that period I have learned more about planning, zoning, agriculture, land use and local politics than I really wanted to know. It has been a long and arduous journey. The only remaining task is remediation of the landscaping. Fine grading and seeding will be done in September and the idea is to have well-rooted grass by the time winter sets in. In the photo to the left you can see some of the concrete structures that are now underground. We removed the old storage shed and replaced it with a building that also houses the operating equipment for the plant.

The next photo shows your Operations Manager rehanging the restroom sign in the lobby. This happened on 16 July 2010 a few hours before the "Night at the Museum" Program. That Friday night 23 children and their parents spent the night in National Toy Train Museum. With a big assist from Lionel, LLC and especially the volunteers from the TCA Education and Museum Committee, the folks toured the Museum with Joshua Lionel Cowen and built an "O" gauge layout using Lionel Trains and Plasticville buildings. A good time was had by all.

The last photo shows Treasurer Bill Kotek and I celebrating the completion of the plant and the removal of the Port-A-Potties that have been in the parking lot for six years. Bill deserves a lot of credit for this project coming to a close as he is the one who negotiated a loan at a very favorable interest rate at a time when banks were not lending money. Yes, TCA must make loan payments. However, we still have some money in the bank for a "rainy day." Come to Toy Train Fair and Open House in October to see the many changes outside and inside the Museum.

How Can This Be?

2010-07-31T11:52:00.007-04:00

The TCA Webmaster says, "You really should update your blog because I know people are "dying" to know what is going on." He really does have a sense of humor but he is correct on one point, people are dying.

This year has been very difficult for me as seven people, relatives, friends and TCA members with whom I have worked closely at one time or another, have passed away. In May, my mother, who will be 90 years old in the middle of August, sustained a significant injury that required extensive surgery. Her recovery time will be long and my sister, brother and I are providing most of her care. She is making good progress but it will be several months before she regains her independence.

TCA has been very understanding about this and we have adjusted the time I am in the office. While members see it has a train club and hobby organization, it is also a very good place to work.

The Spring York Meet held its usual round of meetings and a new one was added. The new bylaws installed an Executive Committee that meets three of four times each year. This meeting is held at your National Toy Train Museum and makes more use of the building.

This year's Convention in Baltimore continued the TCA tradition of holding well run conventions. Of course, there were a few glitches, as is the case with all conventions and events, but the folks who put this convention together deserve a "Well Done" for all their hard work. Next year we will meet in Sacramento, CA and that promises to be a really fine affair. I urge you to make plans now as this is one you do not want to miss.

For me, one the biggest events of the summer, at least professionally, is the completion of the waste water treatment plant and the resolution of our waste water management issues. More on that in my next posting and I promise it will not take four months to get that up. I am going to try to post some photos of this so this will be a learning experience for ma and I hope of interest to you.

First Sunset

2010-04-01T18:48:00.003-04:00

Last night I worked late. As I was leaving I realized that the sun was setting so I took a few minutes to watch. Several times I have expressed the thought that your National Toy Train Museum is the "Key West" of Lancaster County because of the spectacular sunsets we have here.

We are removed from most of the development and have a clear view to the west. Last night's sunset featured an amazing mix of colors and sounds. Yes, sounds. Birds were singing and the Amish were running their motor-generator sets for their milking parlors creating a soft rhythmic beat. As the light dropped the resident bat population appeared for their nightly hunting expedition. I suppose they are relatively successful as I see them, or their descendants, every year. This is one of the good things about working for TCA.

Tough Winter II

2010-04-01T18:25:00.011-04:00

Bad weather was only a part of what made the winter of 2009-2010 so tough, at least for me. TCA lost three good volunteers, two at the Museum and one in the Desert Division. Tom Stange and I did not know each other very well but I knew his knowledge of toy trains was well-respected in TCA. He was also a major contributor of time and effort to make TCA in the Southwest a success. He will be missed by many.

Closer to home, two volunteers at the Museum passed away, both unexpectedly. The first was Bill Boyce, husband of Jane Boyce, our Director of Development. Bill created ads, worked on the HO layout project and did many other tasks around the museum to help keep things running. We also lost Mark Rogers. Mark had retired a few years ago as his health mitigated against him coming to the museum from his home in Strasburg. In the early days of my career as your Operations Manager Mark was one of my key people. He worked on the building, cut the grass, ran errands and did a thousand other things that needed doing. His wife Donna still works in the Museum and between the two of them I successfully navigated the rocks and shoals of my first years at TCA.

Mark was the source for many humorous stories. As I do not want to drag this out I will just say that we got a new lawnmower. I asked Mark how he liked and he said that he did not. I went outside with him to take a look. Finding nothing amiss, I asked him to run it as thought he were cutting grass. I immediately saw the problem. He looked absolutely hurt when I told him that no lawnmower was made to cut grass at 50 mph.

Another time he came into the building but could not remember his security code that would disarm the security system. Undeterred, he went about his business and set off burglar alarms a plenty in the process. His hearing appeared to be deteriorating and he said that he did not hear these alarms. Seeing alarms "going off everywhere" the security company called me. I went in and found Mark cleaning in preparation for the day's activities. "I don't remember my number and I have work to do," was his response to my question, "Did you hear the alarms going off?" Oh well.

One of the other folks that passed away was the owner of the pizza shop on the square in Strasburg. He had come to this country from Italy in 1981 and started his pizza business. He was a true American success story, building a successful business and raising three kids. He was only 58 when he lost his battle with cancer.

Yes, it has been a tough winter in several ways. It is not pleasant attending funerals but I guess it is "that time of my life." Even so, I do not like it and I never will.

Tough Winter

2010-04-01T18:12:00.013-04:00

Southcentral Pennsylvania has had more than its share of snow this winter. We got a lot of snow around the middle of December. January was very cold and February saw us get two large snowfalls within a week of each other. About a week or so later we had more snow, just a few inches really, but the winds were blowing at a steady 25-30 mph and the gusts went to 50 or higher. Whiteout conditions prevailed over most of Lancaster County.

Of course, your intrepid Operations Manager just had to get out in this wind to determine whether or not the business office would be open for business. During my short drive to work I encountered whiteouts at three places. Two of those were between Pa. Route 741 and the Museum driveway where I managed to get stuck for a short time. I can tell you that driving through the 200 or so feet of blinding snow was extremely nerve racking. I finally got turned around and made it to Merenda Zug a coffee shop in the middle of Strasburg. Once there, I called the staff and told them to stay home because the roads were far too dangerous.

In early March we saw a glimpse of how things would be once winter ended. However, there was a "last gasp" that saw plunging temperatures but no snow. Now, we were getting rain. It was raining "cats and dogs" as my relatives used to say.

Here we are just a few hours from opening your National Toy Train Museum for the 2010 season and the temperatures are in the high 60's and low 70's. A welcome change.

Ambrose v. TCA and Eastern Division TCA

2010-01-06T20:50:00.009-05:00

Back in 2007, Paul Ambrose began a legal action against TCA and Eastern Division. In May 2008 the Third Circuit Federal District Court in Pittsburgh, Pa. dismissed all claims against TCA and Eastern Division.

As is his right under the American legal system, Mr. Ambrose filed an appeal with the Third Circuit Appellate Court in Philadelphia, Pa. That court considered briefs and heard oral arguments on 2 November 2009.

On 30 November 2009 the Appellate Court upheld the decision of the lower court which dismissed all claims against TCA and Eastern Division. Neither entity has any further comment at this time.

What Time Is It, Really?

2010-01-06T20:17:00.020-05:00

Benjamin Franklin ranks very high on my list of great Americans. He is also very high on my list of all time great people. Despite his high rank he is, as are we all, not perfect. I personally think his idea of "Daylight Savings Time" was not one of his better ideas.

Franklin thought that by extending daylight in warmer weather people would be more productive. Farmers did not see it that way because their animals do not see it that way.

Plants of course, have nothing to say about this, or anything else for that matter which is why I dislike vegetables. Who wants to eat something that does not stand up for itself? But I digress.

During World War II, the entire country was on daylight savings time or "Wartime" regardless of season for the duration. Again, it was seen as a way to boost productivity. During the government manufactured gas/energy crisis of the 1970's (you really have to hand it to government to screw up things) the period of time during which we used daylight savings time, or DST, was increased. This resulted in a number of things that made life interesting for us outside the halls of government.

One of the most notable changes was that school students of all ages found themselves walking to school or school bus stops in pitch dark, thus making them excellent targets for groggy drivers on their way to work. Eventually, the period of time used for DST reverted back to its more customary part of the year.

Well along comes the run up in energy prices caused by oil speculators in the 2000's and, in its infinite wisdom, the government again extended the period of time that DST is in effect. Now it lasts about as long as the Major League Baseball season and we go back to "standard" time in early November.

While the geniuses in Congress are congratulating themselves on what a great job they are doing on this deal independent research reveals that it takes most people a month to adjust to the time change. It would appear that I am one of them.

Since we returned to standard time I find it more than a bit depressing that by 1800 hours it looks like midnight. For most of November and December I had little enthusiasm for doing anything other than going home from work and settling in the night.

It would appear I reached the low point over the New Year's Holiday. Since then, and despite a muscle spasm in my back, my attitude has been moving in a more positive direction. So I am using this second post of the new year and new decade to express my wish that all of you are not subject to the same malady as I.

Christmas at Jennie's Diner

2010-01-02T19:59:00.007-05:00

No matter what time of year you visit Jennie's you will find it appropriately decorated for holiday for that time of year. The shift that works from 2200 to 0600 does the decorating. Charlotte is the "leader of the pack" when it comes to decorating.

Following Thanksgiving the Christmas stuff comes out and it is an extensive display. There are more Santas, reindeer and snowmen and snow women than you can shake a stick at, as they say in some parts of Lancaster County. This year Charlotte found some interesting icicle lights. These are a lot more realistic than what you see in most places. They also look cold.

Another part of the Christmas package is music on the Juke box. Recently the old system was replaced with one that plays CDs. Yes, I know what you are going to say, but please remember this is Lancaster County where a significant part of the population does not even have electricity, so CDs are still new technology.

It was the Monday after Thanksgiving when I stopped in late at night. The recession has taken a toll on Jennie's business, just as it has with other businesses across the country and the world for that matter. Everywhere except Wall Street and Washington, D. C. but we are not getting started on that subject.

Well, the usual suspects were all in attendance and the hot topic was the Christmas songs that were put into the "music system." Dotty and I began to scan the possibilities.

I need to introduce you to Dotty. She was a hostess at Jennie's for many years and now is a regular customer. I have no idea of her age but my guess it is somewhere close to 80 but neither a gentleman nor an Operations Manager asks a woman her age. Her major source of amusement is playing Bingo and various sources say she is good at it. As I see this as a function of luck rather than skill, I will defer any comment. But, I digress.

I ponied up some quarters and let Dotty make the selections. The first thing up was "Battle of New Orleans," a mid 1960's number about General Andrew Jackson's thrashing of the British Army. This action actually took place after the War of 1812 ended but that information had not yet reached the combatants. True, this is not a Christmas song but Charlotte likes it and when it came on she began to march from one end of the diner to the other while behind the counter. The rest of us clapped our hands in time to the music and then I joined in the marching in front of the counter. Everyone had a great time (in hard times it does not take much to get people in a good mood).

Then the Christmas songs began. Of the staff sat down on a stool in front of one of the music machines and began to look through the list of songs. I slid her a few quarters and she made some selections. She (I am deliberately not including her name) has seen her share of stress and strain in what I guess is not yet forty years on Earth. When her first selection came on she looked at the list, listened and I saw her face change. Suddenly, there was a young girl from many years ago. That look lasted for almost the entire song and the look in her eyes told me that she was seeing something from a long time ago.

Seeing that look on her face, and knowing that I would be making our family Christmas dinner in a few weeks, brought home everything that is written about Christmas. For a short time I forgot about all the crass commercialism that Christmas has become. It really is the simple things in life that give the most pleasure.

We Are Moving Dirt

2009-12-24T21:02:00.018-05:00

August of 2000 saw a number of things happening at the NBO, Museum and Library. The expansion and renovation project was close to being finished and everyone was excited about moving back to the office and out of the trailer that had been our "home" for almost eight months.

Another happening was a visit by the Paradise Township Sewage Enforcement Officer, the Township Engineer, a TCA President-elect and the TCA project manager for expansion project. The reason for all this high-powered talent being on site was to open the four corners of the sand mound that was the final stage in the Association's on site waste water treatment plant.

The Township was insisting that the sand mound was "sludged up" but once examined it was found to be OK. However, the Association was required to make some upgrades to the system that were completed in about a month. Less than six months, later the Township advised that our upgrade, designed by their engineer, was not performing up to expectation and that we would have to fix it. Of course, the local government was not liable, accountable or responsible for their solution to our problem not being correct.

I did not realize it then but that visit was the start of a project that would consume a great portion of my work time for almost the next ten years. I will not go into all the issues that caused this to drag out. While everyone was either dragging their feet or throwing their weight around, the cost of addressing the problem continued to rise for four reasons.

First, and foremost was the ever tightening regulations on what is discharged into the Chesapeake Bay through the rivers and streams that feed into the Susquehanna River. In addition, the Obama Administration is unhappy with the progress made to date on the cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, so it is getting very chippy about getting things into compliance. Second, we had Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that demolished a good section of the Gulf Coast and drove up the cost of construction materials and labor. Third, was the run up in fuel prices. I can tell you that the current recession, as bad as it is, did not wring all of those increases out of the economic system. Fourth, the Association examined a number of possible solutions, most of which were found to be workable. Unfortunately, no action was taken and instead other possible solutions were investigated.

In the middle of this is TCA with a nonfunctional waste water treatment plant and portable toilets in it parking lot. After nine years and two months from that original visit to examine the sand mound, we began construction of a new waste water treatment plant that will discharge into a stream north of our property.

The contractor moved in on 5 November 2009 and digging actually began the next day. Good progress is being made and it is expected that the plant will be in operation by May 2010. The entire project, which includes removing the old system and restoring the landscaping should be finished by September 2010 or ten years and a month after it all started.

During the time I have been working on this I have learned quite a bit about land management issues here in Lancaster County. I have met a number of people at all levels that deal with these issues on a daily basis. While I maintain my healthy distrust of government, I can say that this is not an easy issue to work from any angle. It is complex, has no easy solutions and the solutions that are there all have one thing in common: they are expensive.

Towns the size of Lancaster (50,000) are facing bills of $30-$40 million to either upgrade or build a new waste water treatment plant. That comes to between $600.00 to $800.00 per person, regardless of age or occupation. When you consider that 40% of the population might not be actually earning money this ratio gets even worse. When you look at our situation in that light it makes it look as though we are getting away cheap ($27.60 per member, if I figured it right). This is a large ugly problem that will only get worse. I am glad that we (TCA) finally did get moving before that happens.

When is a bypass not a bypass?

2009-12-24T19:20:00.013-05:00

The answer is, when it has traffic signals. The official name for this road, as conferred by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvannia, is PA Route 896. It runs south from PA 340, crosses US 30 and proceeds south to Strasburg. At the Borough line you encounter a traffic signal and 896 makes a left turn there and becomes Historic Drive at it winds its way around the north side of Strasburg Borough.

About 500 feet from that first signal is a second signal that controls traffic into and out of the complex that holds the Post Office, a pharmacy, bank and a few other businesses. After about another .75 mile Historic Drive/896 intersects with PA Route 741 at another traffic signal. Turn left here to access the railroad attractions. Proceeding south through the intersection will eventually take you to Delaware.

The section between the signals offers a terrific view of the farmland that made Lancaster County famous. Seeing it covered with snow from the recent storm does give it a nice look if I must say so myself, as much as I hate snow.

The road has one more small feature. The westbound side has a pull off lane to permit the Pa. State Police to pull over trucks for safety inspections. Some of the locals were upset when they learned this as it raises the possibility of large trucks sitting along side the road idling for hours on end. I pointed out to one of the more vocal of that group that the Commonwealth of Pa. ponied up almost all of the approximately $6 million needed to build this two-lane, one mile long stretch of road. She was not happy.

Construction News

2009-12-24T19:00:00.009-05:00

In my last post I talked about the bypass around Strasburg. That project did finish up in late October and the road was opened in early November. Another big project that wrapped up for the winter is the US 222 rebuilding project. This project begins at the Berks/Lancaster line and proceeds south to US 30. It will begin again in the spring of 2010 and run until the end of the year.

This project reduces the road to one lane going in each direction and is about five miles long. As one section is finished the contractor begins another section. I try to avoid this project as it can easily take over an hour to go five miles.

US 222 is a major route from Lancaster County to the northeast and such cities as New York. The section being rebuilt was originally constructed in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Members coming to York from the northeast will need to deal with this mess. Here are two hints. 1. Avoid the morning and evening rush hours if you can. 2. Get off 222 at the 272/Adamstown interchange and use 272 to get to US 30. While this is mostly a two-lane road it is usually very fluid at other than rush hours.

Another road project involves US 30 in York County. This is a rebuilding similar to the 222 project ad appears to be complete.

Strasburg Construction Update

2009-08-10T14:34:00.005-04:00

My last post on this was in April just prior to Spring Open House at the National Toy Train Museum. After allowing the project to sit dormant for what must have been the required amount of time, construction is now being done in earnest.

Pa. Route 896 coming into Strasburg Borough from the north and its intersection with Historic Drive/Strasburg Bypass is once again open to two way traffic. Historic Drive, itself, is closed and access to the Post Office, pharmacy and the other businesses is from the other end of the bypass out on Pa. Route 741.

The section from Pa. Route 741 (near the Choo-Choo Barn) is open to the Historic Strasburg Inn and from there one needs to wind one's way through the 55+ community currently under construction.

These are single family homes, complete with garage and an "alley in the back. There is a "sample home" open for viewing. Those already occupied sport small signs out front that say "Private Residence." I can only surmise that the throngs who are interesed in moving here are under the impression that all of these places are open for inspection.

What I do know for a fact is that the few residents are not happy about all the traffic through their neighborhood. As you drive by you can tell by body language and facial expression that these folks are not happy with the traffic on their streets.

I, for one, can say that those of us who must endure this twisting, stop-sign infested ride on streets without a finish coat are sick of it also. It is bumpy, dusty, poorly lit at night and inconvenient. However, many of us have been awaiting this bypass for well over ten years and we realize that this is truly a case of temporary inconvenience: permanent malfunction, er, I mean improvement.

I do not think that the announced completion date of late October 2009 is realistic so please allow extra time as traffic patterns will be changing almost daily by October.

Driving and Distractions

2009-08-08T16:47:00.026-04:00

All three you who follow this blog might have surmised that when I am on the highways I have a tendency to consider the posted speed limit a suggestion rather than an established fact. Since I acquired my drivers license at the age of 16 I have received a few speeding tickets.

For those of you who have never received one of these let me tell you what you will see when it is handed to you for a signature. It says you have so much time to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. Now you might say to yourself (do not ask the police office who is writing the ticket. Sometime I will post an entry of what not to say to the police in several states), "Wait a minute, pleading guilty or not is for criminals."

Well Sunshine, if you look at the statue of Justice you will see that her eyes are covered. This is to convey that all are equal before the law. We know that is a crock but we will go down that road at another time.

If you plead guilty and pay the fine you have then joined a very large and not too exclusive club here in the U. S. You are now a convicted lawbreaker. Fear not because if you have been speeding, drinking and driving, talking on your cell phone while driving (in some places) and a number of other things (some of which are between you and another consenting adult behind closed doors - another possible topic for later) you are a member of an even larger club - lawbreakers who have not yet been convicted. As a matter of fact, if you carefully read the laws of the state in which you reside and the municipality in which you live you will discover, to your shock I am sure, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to go through a day without violating a law of some sort.

Now I am guessing that the founders of this country did not have that in mind, but that is where we are and it is going to get worse. As the press in this country has given up on investigating real issues such as corruption in government at all levels and other such issues that actually matter they have plenty of time to dig into what Brittany Spears wears for lunch and how many accidents are caused by people talking or text messaging on their cell phones.

First off, let me go on record as saying that people who engage in this activity are in the wrong, pure and simple. There are enough tests to show that people who talk or text while driving display as much impairment as those who have been drinking. Of course, the immediate reaction is, "We will make it against the law."

This tells me that the people in government are probably the most ignorant of all those who roam this country. They display a blissful ignorance of history as they actually believe that by making this behavior illegal it will cease. It would appear these folks actually think that a law will change behavior.

If that were true Prohibition in the 1920's would have eliminated the production and consumption of alcohol. It did not and it actually provided a group of criminals with the income to leave their small time crimes behind and go national. More on that some other time.

My guess is that will see these laws and that will give those charged with enforcement even more to keep them from addressing the real issues in their daily tasks. I would ask, "Has anyone conducted tests on law enforcement officers to see if they are distracted while driving in their patrol cars and looking for people not wearing seat belts, checking to see if children (up to age 14 in Pa. I think) are in car seats or any of the other things considered to be the bane of society?

Yes, making things against the law appears to me one of our major occupations. Too bad as there really is a lot of work to be done in this country. Of course, we do not have time to do it because we are talking on the phone or test messaging someone to let them know what we are doing every second of our so important lives.

Perhaps the worst thing that will happen here is that even more people will be entered into the category of lawbreakers not yet caught/convicted. The real bottom line is that more and more people have less and less respect for the law and that, my friends, is not a good thing for more reasons than I can list here.

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

2009-08-08T16:41:00.006-04:00

After a couple of delays, the reports I promised in my last post are available in the Members Only section of www.tcamembers.org. You will also find the proposed bylaws. These were approved by a unanimous vote of the Directors at their meeting in Scottsdale, AZ in July of this year.

Of course, I am required to remain neutral in all elections but I will say that Bob Hazlett and his committee did an outstanding job on a difficult task. Please reward their work by voting on the bylaws when your ballot arrives in the September issue of the National Headquarters News.

Read All About It

2009-07-28T21:32:00.019-04:00

Let me start by saying that I am not going to go on a posting spree but there are a number of things I need to convey to the two or three people who actually read this. Here is additional news related to the Convention.

Officers, Division Presidents, Committee Chairs, the Director of Development and the Operations Manager are required to deliver a written report to the Board of Directors far enough in advance of the Board of Directors meeting to permit everyone to read them and pose questions about their contents.

Those of you who have attended National Conventions may or may not know that those reports are made available to the membership. They can usually be found on a table outside the entrance to the trading pits. This is a custom of long standing and is a part of the organization trying to educate and involve the membership. The reports are not edited in any way and some of them make interesting reading.

It is a fact of life that most of the membership does not attend the National Convention. This is a good news/bad news thing as having about 30,000 TCA members and their families show up at a hotel or resort would be a real challenge for all concerned.

What this means is that a vast number of members have no opportunity to learn what is happening in the Association because they never have an opportunity to read these reports. A few years ago we began to change that.

The TCA presence on the Internet has vastly improved over the years. The Internet Committee and people like Nicole Peace and Ron Morris deserve a lot of credit for that. There is the Toy Trains Mailing List (TTML) which might be one of the oldest continuously operating forums on Yahoo.com.

We also have http://www.nttmuseum.org/ which makes thousands of people each month aware of what is at the National Toy Train Museum. We have some interesting plans for this site but first the economy needs to rebound so we have income to pay for the upgrades.

Of course, there is the TCA X-change (http://www.tcabuysell.org/) which is an expanded version of the Interchange Point found in the National Headquarters News. This is developing into an on line train meet and actually has the capacity to handle 3 million items (each with 3 photos) at one time. Trust me, you folks are not even making this break a sweat.

What I think is developing into our flagship site is http://www.tcamembers.org/. Recently, we broke it into two sections. One makes a lot of information about TCA available to one and all and the Members Only Section has and will continue to add information, offerings and other benefits to TCA members.

It is this site that is hosting all of the reports that were filed for the Board of Directors Meeting. About 2 Board meetings ago we made it known that, instead of printing out 30+copies of their reports, everyone could send them via E-mail. This saved a lot of paper and it gave Nicole Peace, our IT Manager, the "raw material" we needed to post them on www.tcamembers.org.

They are up there for your reading pleasure and I invite you to do that and pose questions to the authors. This is YOUR organization and the people running it want you to be informed.

The Convention and Other Stuff

2009-07-28T21:05:00.014-04:00

When we last met here I was complaining about having a cold and I talked for a bit about some famous people who had passed away. A lot has happened over the past month so I guess I should get going on getting people up to date.

First, not that it matters, I am over my cold and those who passed away are still dead. I suppose everyone, except the media, is pretty much overdosed on Michael Jackson. On a positive note here, you can see a lot of his dance moves and some of his videos on YouTube.com.

My cold hung on during the TCA National Convention in Scottsdale, AZ (right outside of Phoenix). Flying with a cold should be avoided if at all possible. If you missed this convention and, unfortunately a lot of you did, you missed a well-run event that provided the attendees with a truly unique set of experiences. My hat is off to Desert Division as they did a great job.

Let me tell everyone that the Phoenix is HOT. Do not believe that, "It is a dry heat story." When I got off the plane it was 96 degrees at 1000 hours and the humidity was exceptionally high. That made it very uncomfortable and only those who had to were moving.

While the humidity dropped later in the week the temperatures remained high (I understand that after we left town it really got hot). On Thursday night going into Friday morning the overnight low was 93 and when I left for the airport at 0245 on Sunday morning it was 91. Despite that the resort was comfortable and the staff was friendly, well-trained and professional.

Of course, my reason for going was to attend the Board of Directors Meeting. This year the Board really had its work cut out for it. Most of the first day was spent in discussing the proposed revised bylaws. You can read them on line at www.tcamembers.org and compare them with what is currently in effect. TCA members in good standing will be asked to approve them in September as that vote will be a part of the National Officer Election. There were very few motions (a 55-year old organization should not need too muck tinkering with its rules, regulations and policies).

I will say this about the upcoming election. All the candidates are well qualified, devoted to making TCA a better organization and worthy of your support. I cannot vote in the election but if I could I would have a very difficult time trying to decide on who would get my vote.

While I am and obviously must be neutral in the officer election I can easily take a stand and urge you to vote to accept the new bylaws. Folks, believe me TCA needs new bylaws. Bob Hazelett and his committee have worked long and hard to create bylaws that bring TCA into the 21st Century. Please make that effort worth their while by voting to give TCA new bylaws.

You Just Never Know

2009-06-25T22:35:00.027-04:00

For the past week I have been suffering from a cold. As I, and the people at the National Business Office, are in the final throes of preparation for next week's Board of Directors Meeting at the National Convention in Scottsdale, AZ, just staying home and treating it is not an option.

I have been struggling but am seeing progress as I have been leaving the office about an hour early to go home and get some sleep. This usually results in me waking up at some strange hour with little or nothing to do and little ambition to do anything in any event.

As I am going on 12 years without owning a TV, I do not have that to lull me back to sleep. I usually end up on line checking out news sites such as the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Fox News and CNN.

The last few days have seen some well known people pass from the scene and in a manner that appears to give credence to the belief that "things happen in threes."

First, Ed McMahon passed away at age 86. Most people remember him as the announcer and straight man to Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." Others might remember him working with Jerry Lewis on the annual Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.

My recollection goes back much further as a friend of mine and I used to ditch school on occasion to watch Wee Willie Webber and his morning cartoon show in Philadelphia followed by Carson and McMahon on "Who Do You Trust?"

While it was supposed to be a game show, it was really a platform for Carson to do stand-up comedy with McMahon as his straight man. The contestants on the show were either willing foils or window dressing. It kept us in stitches and it came as no surprise to us when Carson moved to the Tonight Show after Jack Parr left in early to mid 1962.

Today, I learned that Farrah Fawcett died at age 62. While McMahon was almost as old as my mother this one hit closer to home as she and I are/were the same age. Of course, many of the stories mentioned, and showed, the famous poster of her that went on sale in 1976. At the time, it seemed like a photograph of the "ideal woman" and, as much as anything else, help build the expectations of the Baby Boomers beyond reality. It survives to his day as an icon of what used to be called "pin-up photography."

Less well-known are the photos of Fawcett that appeared after she had been beaten by her, now former, husband. Completely gone was look of the poster girl and for me it reinforced what I already knew, money, looks and fame are no safeguard from making bad decisions. As it is with many cases of that happening, there was nothing I could do but sympathize with her plight and express anger and distress that some groups used, what I consider an aberration, as proof that this is a trait common to all men.

Today's final shock came when I learned that Michael Jackson died, possibly of cardiac arrest, at age 50. It is unfortunate that most people today only remember him as a disgraced pop star who allegedly engaged in strange behavior, mostly with children. He was one of the most creative personalities to see the light of day in the music industry from the late 1960's to the early 1990's.

In the heyday of MTV, when it really was Music Television, Jackson was one of a small band of performers and directors that turned the music video into an art form. Watching those videos from the 1980's made one realize that the marriage of film and music had created something that was special and worth watching. My guess is that many film school careers were launched between 1981 and 1990 because of what played on MTV.

For some of that time I was working as a photo and film rep and potential clients always expressed a desire to have their commercials "look like MTV." Of course, once they discovered what it cost to achieve that look, their thoughts changed and that is also what turned MTV into the Junk TV it is today. Record companies did not see enough of a return on their investment and too many directors were trying to get the same type of money they got for directing full-length films. In the end it was, all about the money.

Still, I would hope that at some point someone would do a retrospective of Jackson's videos so people could get a sense of his real talent and creativity. They really were something to see.

All these folks, while famous and at one time, wealthy, are really not that much different from all of us. They suffered from bad decisions and physical conditions that, in the end, could not be overcome by a sudden change in the script.

I think the larger lesson here is that life is short and happiness fleeting. All of us should take a moment to stand back and look at ourselves and how we interact with those around us and probably consider changing some of what we do.

I can honestly say that over most of my 62 years I have been flabbergasted and amazed at how petty stuff can cause so much discontent, anger and distress, sometimes to the point of rage, and hatred. We human beings are strange creatures. Things of great import slide right by us and things of the most temporary nature and fleeting value inspire us to behavior that borders on animalistic.

As Byron once said, "Truth is strange, stranger than fiction."

Even More Breaking News

2009-06-16T12:17:00.003-04:00

Around the middle of July, we will be posting all the reports submitted by officers, directors, committee chairs and employees for the Board of Directors meeting on www.tcamembers.org.

They will be posted as PDF files and you will need Adobe Reader to open and download them. This is a free software program that can be found on the Adobe website.

This is another way to keep the membership informed and up to date with what is happening in their Association. Watch for them!

Breaking News

2009-06-16T12:04:00.005-04:00

Well friends, Nicole Peace the TCA webmaster, has helped TCA take yet another step into the 21st century. She recently created Facebook Pages for TCA and the National Toy Train Museum. In less than 24 hours, the Museum had acquired 10 fans, one of whom lives in Serbia.

Not satisfied with this feat, she then created a Twitter Account for the Museum. She will be posting Tweets to help everyone keep up. As I do not currently have a Twitter account, I cannot tell you how many Tweets are posted nor how many people are following the NTTM on Twitter.

I do have a Facebook page but I admit that I only look at it once a week, and then only if I remember. Usually, someone send me a message through Facebook and that reminds me to look at my page. The real reason I set up a Facebook page was because the woman who is promotions director at the local swing dance club kept bugging me to do so.

My guess is that Facebook will make more people aware of TCA and our great museum. I am hoping that this will inspire them to visit.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T16:32:00.025-04:00

In 1868, General John A. Logan, Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, declared 30 May as Memorial Day to honor the memory of those who died fighting in the Civil War. There is some evidence that widows and families of fallen Confederate States military personnel were remembering their fallen by decorating their graves with flowers while the war was still underway.

By 1890, all of the northern states recognized 30 May but the South did not do so until after World War I when it was used as a way to honor all who have fallen in the wars fought by the United States. The name change from Decoration Day to Memorial Day took some time and I still remember some of my relatives referring to it as Decoration Day.

My earliest recollection of Memorial Day was in Pottsville, Pa. The day prior, we were taken from school to a nearby cemetery. Each of us received a small American Flag and were posted at the grave of a departed veteran. At noon we were to push the flag into the ground in front of the stone. I was in second grade and this was big stuff. Our burning question was when it would be noontime. We need not have worried as someone in uniform told us to plant our flags. Following that we returned to our studies.

As I grew older, Memorial Day took on a larger scope. It was a day off from school and I remember my father and others listening to the Indianapolis 500 race on the radio. The parade and visit to the cemetery remained the real highlights of the day. In 1971, the US Government, led by Lyndon Johnson, passed an act that moved certain holidays from their usual day of celebration to the closest preceding Monday. Only Fourth of July and Veterans Day escaped this pandering to potential voters.

The purpose was to give government workers three day weekends. This led to retail establishments running sales (some of them continue for an entire month) in an effort to get all these nonworking workers out and spending money. Today we have President's Day Sales and Columbus Day Sales, to name a few. I noted that in some areas we are seeing sales tied to the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a development I did not anticipate so soon after it being declared a National Holiday. Of course, it was immediately added to the Monday Holiday List (you can find the list on Google) so one must view its creation with a bit of a jaundiced eye.

Despite the efforts to completely destroy the real reason for these various holidays some places still cling to the "real reason for the season" to purloin a phrase used to describe yet another holiday that is so over commercialized as to be virtually unrecognizable. Just as some people "bitterly" cling to "God and guns" to quote the current occupant of the White House, so do many of these same people cling to the idea of remembering why these days are special in the first place.

In Strasburg, the Memorial Day holiday is marked by two things. A parade and a changing of the colors in the town square. The parade consists of the local high school bands (Junior and Senior Highs) the Lampeter-Strasburg Community band and various civic organizations such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4H and others.

Near the end of the parade you will see the men, women and apparatus of Strasburg Fire Company #1 (there is only one but at one time it was thought things would be different). In between all this you will find veterans groups, a few re-enactors and automobiles of various vintages carrying veterans of various wars from the mid twentieth century to the present.

The changing of the colors takes place before the parade proceeds to the cemetery for a memorial ceremony. The old flag is taken down and replaced by a new one.

The local VFW Post sponsored and organized the parade for a very long time. Today that group is down to a few aged members (there is no lack of veterans in the area but they have not joined- why I do not know). The local Sertoma Club (SERvice TO MAnkind) has taken over this event.

For a town of 2,900 the parade draws a fair size crowd. As the local newspaper publishes a list of municipalities staging parades, it is obvious that people are coming from outside the general area. As people begin to line the parade route on Main Street you can see timeless scenes such as children running after each other, adults engaged in conversation and a general sense of community that we older folks remember as being much more common than it is today.

This year I noticed more younger families and numerous couples (dating I imagine as they were walking and holding hands) so perhaps we are "going back to the future" of knowing our neighbors and taking an interest in the well-being of them, our communities and a recognition that we need to work together on a local level to address the ills that plague our cities and towns. I would find that to be reassuring. I personally think nothing fails on a massive scale as does government when it attempts to address issues that are more local than national. It would be somewhat ironic if the era of government bailouts sparked a resurgence of community interest and service.

Yes, watching the events in Strasburg this morning gave me a sense that what someone told me many years ago is still true. We have New York City and Los Angeles with their moaners, whiners and complainers. Once you get away from them there is a vast area in between. It is called the United States of America and the spirit that created it is alive and well. I am hoping that we can keep it that way. Time will tell.

Museum Store Improvements

2009-05-10T10:39:00.003-04:00

Many people, including me, are doing more and more business on line. With only a few exceptions, I pay most of my bills on line and do some banking.

We are seeing evidence of this growth in the use of the Internet here at TCA. The number of ads on the TCA X-change is growing and numbers over 2,000. Traffic at the Museum store page is also growing. More members are using their TCA VISA cards to renew their membership on line. The use of E-mail to conduct Association business continues to grow and Snail Mail is dropping significantly. Sales through the Museum store page are doing quite well. This last improvement has required us to undertake changes to that part of the Museum website, www.nttmuseum.org.

To more efficiently handle this growing traffic we undertook a number of improvements to the Museum store page. Most of it is "behind the scenes" with an improved shopping cart system. the most obvious "up front" change is large photos of the merchandise.

As it is with everything related to websites, this was a more complex undertaking than we first thought, but the result is well worth the effort.

Take a look and I am sure you will agree.

Welcome Home

2009-05-08T19:32:00.021-04:00

Jennies Diner on Route 30 East in Ronks, PA is one of those places that see a lot of truck drivers, tourists (do you have "AIMISH" food?) and a sizable group of "regulars." I know most of the help by name so I guess you know where I fit in.

A few days ago I was reading the obituary column in the local newspaper when I saw an entry that stopped me short. It read William "Rambo" "Wild Bill" Bruns, 78.

Bill was a regular at Jennies and a few other places in the area. The first time I saw him was in the now closed coffee shop at the Revere Tavern in Paradise. He was sitting at the end of the counter with long gray hair partially covered with a do-rag and wearing biker clothes most of them identifying him as a Harley Davidson man. He was talking to a young lady who was absolutely spellbound by his story. He stopped, lit a cigarette and said, "Yeah, I was in Coo Rea (Korea) and did my share." After that my attention was diverted to the others at my table.

I saw him there a few times. His conversations usually revolved around motorcycles and how "they" were trying to take away our basic freedoms such as gun ownership and being able to say and do as we pleased. It was soon obvious that motorcycles were a big part of his life and usually you saw him riding one. He also owned a pickup truck with the most interesting collection of bumper stickers I have ever seen.

Sometime later, probably a few months actually, I saw him at Jennies. It was a hot summer night and it was very late. When I walked in he was sitting at the counter smoking (it seemed to me that he did that a lot) and was staring into a cup of coffee. The waitress, Connie, said, "Bill why don’t you go home? You are falling asleep here." He grumbled something but he left. The unusual thing about that exchange was her calling him Bill. To everyone else in Jennies he was "Rambo."

Fast forward at least a year, probably more. The TCA Board of Directors had just finished the October Board Meeting which is a telephone conference call. It begins at 2100 hours to allow those on the West Coast to get home from work, where the call begins at 1800 hours. Originally, this call had two purposes.

One was to approve the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The other was to approve committee appointments. Unfortunately, the June Board meetings were not dealing with all the motions that were appearing on the agenda. I could write on that for hundreds of pages but I will spare you that. I finally left the office around 0100 hours. It was cold and I had not had dinner. Jennies was the only logical place to stop.

Despite the cold that night, there were two Harleys parked out front. Once inside there was no doubt who owned them. There sat Bill in a much more lively state than the past time I saw him. He was talking to another biker and I only half listened to the conversation. They finished their coffee and got up to pay their checks and leave. The first guy paid up and left. The waitress was ringing up Bill’s check when he looked over at me. I said, “Bill, I understand that you were in Korea.” He just stopped and looked at me for a moment. Then he said, “Yeah.” I replied, “So were my ex-father-in-law and a friend of mine. I thought I might say, ‘Thank You and Welcome Home’ as you guys never got that when you came back.”

He just looked at me, said nothing and left. A short time later I was walking across the parking lot at Jennies. The weather was not the best. There sat this pick up truck I described earlier. As I approached the door opened and out came Bill. He saw me and said, “Hey man, you are OK.” I looked at him and said, “Thanks, and I think you are OK, too.” Over the next few years we would exchange greetings and small talk when we saw each other.

I think it was last fall when the place where he lived caught fire. It began in Bill’s second floor apartment. It was completely ruined and the first floor was heavily damaged. I had seen him a few days before that. That was the last time I saw him.

On my next trip to Jennies there was someone there who knew him and he was talking to one of the waitresses about the fire. I said it looked like good progress was being made on fixing up the place. The guy who was talking when I came in said that it would be a long time before Bill lived there again.

I drive by that place every day and at times I wondered whatever happened to him. In the Wednesday 6 May 2009 newspaper my question was answered. He was a unique part of the Ronks, Strasburg, Paradise part of Lancaster County.

I knew that, as a Korean War Vet, he had to be in his mid to late 70’s but his age surprised me nonetheless. He never behaved like a 78-year old man. That was good to see and made me think that I might be that lucky to be that active at 78. He was a unique individual and he will be missed.

The guys from WW II came home to flags flying, parades and a grateful nation. Lord knows, they deserved it. Much is made of the fact that we are losing World War II Vets at an alarming rate.

I think that is sad but, to me at least, even more sad is the fact that Korean War Vets are disappearing in ever increasing numbers and far too many of them never heard the words, “Thank you and Welcome Home.” After I read that obituary on Wednesday I was glad that I had the chance to say that to him. I hope I was not the only one to do that.

Why I like York

2009-04-26T20:56:00.028-04:00

For those of us in the National Business Office and the National Toy Train Museum, the Eastern Division meets at the York, Pa. Fairgrounds pose significant operational challenges. They also make for long weeks for some of us. As many members of various committees are in town for the Meet, the list of meetings gets to be quite extensive. The reality is they are held morning, afternoon and night. We do manage to get quite a bit accomplished at some of these meetings so it is time well spent for TCA.

"York" brings a lot of members to town, so I get an opportunity to see people I have not seen since the last Meet or possibly the Convention and now, the cruise. I get the latest news on layouts, collections, grandchildren, travels, you name it, I hear about it and to be honest, I enjoy it. The majority of the TCA members I know are nice people.

While not a collector, earlier in my career I identified myself as an HO "Shake the Box" model railroader, I do enjoy walking through the Halls and looking at some of the trains and related items that are for sale. After eleven years as your Operations Manager, I have learned a bit about trains and now, I can appreciate a Lionel State Set, a Carlisle & Finch mine train, or an Electoy locomotive. It does add a new scope to one's knowledge.

As the years, go by I am continually amazed at how "York" provides old friends an opportunity to reconnect with each other. In one of the many meetings I attended through the week, I heard someone refer to TCA as a "Social Network." When you think about it, that is true. TCA is a Facebook or MySpace without a computer.

Once you separate out those few people who are never happy with policy, or who are never happy with the prices asked or offered for trains, you have a large group of people who get together to look for something for their collections and see and talk to their friends.

Someone called it "Playing Trains" during this past week and there is nothing wrong with that. I enjoyed seeing, talking and listening to almost all of you and I am hoping that all of you returned home safely.

While, if, I have your attention I would urge you to register for the 2009 Convention in Scottsdale, AZ, right outside of Phoenix. I have seen photos of the resort where the Convention is to be held and I know the tours are fascinating, fun and, dare I say it, educational.

See you in Scottdale!

Spring Open House and Toy Train Fair

2009-04-22T09:36:00.019-04:00

Well, the Formula1 Grand Prix of China was an interesting race but for us Ferrari tifosi (fans) it was another disappointment. Our number one driver, Felippe Massa, started in 7th place and was contending for second when his car suffered from an electrical failure. Number two driver Kimi Reikkonen encountered engine problems that slowed him for almost a third of the race. He finished 10th. After three races this season, Ferrari has no points in either the Driver's or the Constructor's championships. This is not the usual pattern.

The Chinese race was the second race in a row that ran in the rain. Unlike NASCAR, Formula1 runs in rain and it makes the entire race much more interesting. Tires (called tyres in Europe) come in slicks for dry weather and in either full wet or intermediate wet depending on the amount of rain that is falling. This race was run on full wet tires and even then handling was tricky.

The cars throw up a lot of spray making it difficult for drivers to see ahead. As the cars all have open cockpits the drivers' visors also becomes wet and that does not help visibility. All in all it makes for an exciting event even if your favorite team/driver does not win.

So with that out of the way, here we are at the Spring Open House and Toy Train Fair at the National Toy Train Museum. The weather is OK with showers possible but I am hoping that does not deter the crowds. For the past few years we have sent press releases to the local media to make the public aware that admission is free today. While most of the visitors are TCA members we do draw a few locals and tourists and we hope that what they see will A) convince them to join TCA and B) make a return visit.

This event continues to evolve and we are finding that several other manufacturers are expressing interest in being a part of it. This is a unique opportunity to interact with an important segment of their market. TCA members and others who collect (and often operate) toy, scale and model trains have a higher per capita rate of spending than most of the casual customers in the hobby. Despite the current economic situation, this continues to be the case.

Toy Train Fair gives manufacturers and customers a unique opportunity to engage in the type of dialog that improves products and gives manufacturers a sense of where the "high end" of the hobby is going.

I am hoping that you will make time in your schedule in October for the Fall edition of this growing event. We are working on a number of surprises for you.

Construction in Strasburg

2009-04-19T02:30:00.009-04:00

I am writing this as I await the beginning of the Formula1 Grand Prix of China.

Well, for the past ten years one of the leading discussions around Strasburg has been the construction of a by-pass. Late last fall it finally came to pass.

As is always the case with road work in Pennsylvania, the first thing done is to restrict the flow of traffic around and through the proposed construction area. Following that, nothing happens for at least three months, and more if possible.

Such is the case here. Those coming south on Route 896 will encounter construction at the intersection with Historic Drive. When completed, this will be the Northern/Western end of the by-pass. This area is seeing extensive utility installation and rearrangement. Recently, excavation has begun on turning lanes.

Route 896 (known as North Decatur Street in the Borough of Strasburg) now resembles Craters of the Moon Park. The 25 mph speed limit is about 15 mph faster than is safe. It seems each day sees a larger accumulation of debris that falls from vehicles whose drivers are traveling too fast.

Rest assured that, while your Operations Manager does not let any "grass grow under his feet" he also knows when to slow down. There are days when Flaggers (the politically correct term that replaced Flagmen) control the flow of traffic.

Over on Route 741, at the Choo-Choo Barn you will find the Eastern/Southern end of the by-pass. Again the work consists of utility work and turning lane excavation. The road here is not as bumpy and, in fact, the "shoo-fly" (every railroader and rail fan will recognize the term) was recently resurfaced, probably because a construction vehicle disappeared in the pothole that was developing.

Delays are more frequent in the Historic Drive area so take that into consideration when coming to visit your Museum. An alternate route is to use Bachmantown Road (about a half mile south of Route 30 on Route 896. This will take you to Ronks Road and eventually Paradise Lane.

I hope that many of you will take the time to visit while you are in the area for the Eastern Division Meet at the York Fairgrounds.

I'm Back!

2009-04-04T11:29:00.010-04:00

Where have you been?, no one asked. Well, it is a long story but here it is in a nutshell. First, I fell ill between Thanksgiving and Christmas so that curtailed a lot of my activities. I am very glad that is over. Second, the people to whom I report have been keeping me busy.

Unlike some people who make "New's Year's Resolutions," I am not going to promise to post more frequently in the future nor anything else that I might regret promising.

Christmas Cards

2008-12-08T11:54:00.008-05:00

We are now in that time of year when people spend hours writing messages and addressing Christmas Cards. For many years I did the same thing. As the number of people I met continued to grow my list grew also. The yearly list broke out into several segments. Family, Friends, and professional relationships.

As I am fortunate enough know people of various religious persuasions, I always attempted to select a card that conveyed good will and wishes in a way that would work for all. Then, in 2005, Hurricane Katria, and a bit later Rita, hit the Gulf Coast. I thought the money I was spending on cards and postage could be put to better use. As I could not go there to help in person, I hoped that my "Christmas Card Money" would be of help to those less fortunate. I have been doing this ever since.

So I am writing this let everyone know that, Yes, I do like you. I want you to have a wonderful Holiday Season no matter what the Holiday and I would also like to wish everyone a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous 2009.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T14:41:00.003-05:00

Please allow me to take this opportunity to wish one and all a Happy Thanksgiving. This is a truly American Holiday that we can share regardless of our political and religious differences.

November National Headquarters News

2008-11-04T10:13:00.008-05:00

The November issue of the National Headquarters News is in the mail and you should be receiving it shortly. It contains two things that deserve your utmost attention.

First is the annual appeal. As TCA is a federal income tax exempt organization, your donation to this fund is tax deductible. Please see the person who does your taxes for the details.

Second, is the last chance to get an order form for the 2009 Convention cars. There are other ways to order these (online) but this is the last printed order form you will see. Please remember that no matter what ordering method you choose, the deadline is midnight 31 December 2008.

Happy New Year

2008-11-04T08:38:00.014-05:00

Well, for TCA, 1 November is the beginning of a new fiscal year. Newly elected officers take their positions and the budget adopted by your Board of Directors goes into effect. Because of the uncertain economic situation everyone is "battening down the hatches" to ensure the financial viability of the Association.

November brings other changes to the Strasburg area. Most of the work on the area's farms is complete. Crops are harvested and stored or taken to market. The few warm days are used to ready the land for the snow that will recharge the ground water when it melts in the spring. Personally, I could skip the snow part as I hate shoveling; just one of the reasons I bought a condo years ago. But I digress.

Another November event is Amish Wedding Season. Tuesdays and Thursdays in November, and December because of the large number of them, are the days reserved for the Amish to marry. The roads around your museum are clogged with Amish buggies.

For those of you who have never seen this vehicle it is a wagon that is fully enclosed. The closest thing in our world is a pickup truck with a cap on it. The buggy is usually pulled by one horse but I have seen some with two. This is sort of the universal vehicle in the Amish community.

If the wedding is close enough to their home, some families will walk, another common site. The Amish are usually in much better physical condition that their "English" neighbors (did I mention that to the Amish, everyone who is not Amish is English?). They do a lot of walking and walking a few miles to get somewhere is not uncommon for them.

The local shopping scene is seeing a lot of traffic as holiday shoppers flood into the area seeking bargains at outlet centers and malls. This actually began in October. For one of the local outlet centers, Rockvale Square (200+ stores and 3,000+ parking spaces), the Monday of the Columbus Day three-day weekend is their busiest day of the year. It is even bigger than the day after Thanksgiving. If you think Route 30 is busy during York Week come to Lancaster County (or York for that matter) during this time of year. My advice, if you come, pack your lunch.

There are many things to do in the area and I would encourage everyone to make a trip to the see your Museum, especially after Thanksgiving as the hard-working volunteers will have the place decorated for Christmas.

October York II

2008-10-23T14:56:00.005-04:00

Publishing in chapters must be the new fad on this thing. I did it with the 2008 TCA Legacy Cruise and now October York. How quickly we dig ourselves into a rut.

To one who has never attended an Eastern Division Meet at the York, Pa. Fairgrounds (aka the York Expo Center), it is a somewhat mystical experience. Every one of the 14,000+ participants will have a different way to describe it and why they attend meet after meet (as I wrote this I realized that I have been at 22 Yorks).

Now, we all know the real reason to go to York is to buy and sell trains. It is the endless quest for something for the collection. The more I listen to those who are there, however, I realize that it is more than just the trains that draws the crowds.

Some people come to see their friends, others to shop and some to eat. Yes, food appears to be a major attraction. There are funnel cakes, soft pretzels, ice cream, French fries, fish sandwiches and other examples of Pa. Dutch cooking. Not to be outdone, restaurants in the area also offer everything from plain, old hamburgers to Chinese, French and Italian cuisine.

Did I forget to mention Maple Donuts? One year, a Maple Donut car was produced. I understand that it was a very limited run. I did see one but no longer can tell you how it looked except to say that it did say Maple Donuts on it.

York has become much more than a train meet. It is a block party, a family picnic, a class reunion, a neighborhood get together, a journey down memory lane and too many other events to mention rolled into one. Only one word describes York and it takes some of us back to the 1960's. York is a Happening, there is just no other word to describe it.

October York I

2008-10-21T18:18:00.015-04:00

In TCA, everyone knows that York is more than the name of a middle-sized town in southcentral Pennsylvania. It is the home of the Eastern Division Meets held at the Fairgrounds in April and October.

Attracting between 14,000 and 16,000 people to each event, it is one of the biggest generators of economic activity in the area. Lodging and dining properties in several counties feel the impact.. The prices of hotel rooms are always a hot topic of conversation.

Other events in the area generate the same concerns. Bike Week, or Open House as it is called, a Harley Davidson sponsored event, finds an even larger group of people voicing the same complaint about finding an affordable place to stay.

As it is with certain types of trains, the law of supply and demand is in full force. The October Meet is under much more pressure than the one in April. Southcentral Pennsylvania is especially busy in October. Fall foliage trips, farm shows and fairs, shows, shopping and other activities draw huge numbers of people who could care less about trains. I know, they really are missing something but where there is life there is hope.

Lancaster, as well as Hanover, Carlisle and Harrisburg offer a good supply of rooms. People in the hospitality (tourism) industry in York are trying to get more hotel rooms in place but construction takes time and the current economic climate is not going to make the situation better any time soon. In the meantime, I suggest checking with the local tourist bureaus for help.

TCA Election Results

2008-10-08T11:17:00.003-04:00

Well folks, the votes are in and here are the results.

Dues increase: Approved

President-elect: Ron Stowell

Vice-president: Paul Edgar

Secretary: Christie Wilson

Treasurer: William Kotek

Investment Committee: Newton Derby

Please offer your congratulations, support and cooperation to all of the above. TCA faces many challenges as it moves into the 21st century and these people will need you to help them with that.

Also extend thanks to those who were not successful for their interest in keeping TCA a successful organization.

TCA Legacy Cruise, Part Eight

2008-09-29T18:13:00.009-04:00

Many years ago there was a premium sports and movie channel in Philadelphia. Called Philadelphia Regional In Home Sports and Movies (PRISM), it carried a weekly sports talk show and most of those talking heads can still be found on WIP 610 Sports Talk Radio, from whence they came.

The weekly show always ended with a segment called “Winners and Weasels,” in which each member of the panel nominated a person in sports as a winner or weasel for something he or she did. Of course, being Philly, the Dallas Cowboys (always referred to as the Stinkin’ Dallas Cowboys) were always weasels. But I digress.

So, without further ado, here are my Winners and Weasels from the 2008 TCA Legacy Cruise.
Winners
First and foremost is the entire TCA Group. It was a true delight to be one of their escorts and they were little or no trouble. In fact, it might have been far too easy to be their escort.

The entire crew of the M/S Carnival Victory. All of us have gone to work at one time or another knowing we were not at our best. These people work long hours 7 days a week for six months. My cabin steward knew the name of every passenger in his section by the time we cleared New York Harbor. Our waiters at dinner knew the name of each person at their tables by the end of our first dinner at sea. Every member of the crew, even those engaged in “ship’s work” (making repairs while underway), were friendly. It takes special people to be that cheerful for that long a period of time.

Weasels
Unfortunately, there were some, two were female but gender really had nothing to do with it. One was the woman who complained about having to wait for the elevators and of not getting enough to eat. I last saw her Monday morning. I can only assume that she passed out from hunger in her cabin. How you can say something like on a floating restaurant with 24/7 service and no restrictions of what and how much you can order at regular meals is beyond me.

The other weasel would be the woman who kept pushing her way into various food serving lines. At one point, she said she wanted to get something before they ran out of it. The only time I saw them run out of something was when they were going to get more.

The U. S. Customs people. Years ago, I returned home from a long trip to Kenya. The customs agent at JFK looked at my paperwork, stamped my passport and said, “Welcome Home.” I thought that was a nice touch, one U. S. Citizen greeting another and acknowledging that we have something in common: living in the greatest nation the world has ever seen. The folks at the cruise ship piers could take a lesson from that guy.

TCA Legacy Cruise, Part Seven

2008-09-29T17:45:00.007-04:00

After leaving Halifax we spend an entire day at sea. I had a meeting with incoming national president Clem Clement and Director of Development Jane Boyce. Then the ship had a disembarkation meeting.

This covered a lot of information such as getting your bags packed and into the companionway (hallway) outside your cabin between 2100 and 2300 hours that night. The Cruise Director, Malcolm Burn, said, “Remember to keep something to wear when you get off the ship.” Everyone laughed but the reason he said it was because they have had people who did not.

The ship’s stores had sales on all types of merchandise and there were the usual on board activities. I realize that my last post might be taken a bit negatively when it comes to cruising. Actually, it can be an enjoyable experience as some of the shore excursions offered excellent educational opportunities for those who wished to take advantage of them.

Life on board can be a lot more than eating and drinking, although some folks did spend most of their time doing just that. One of my fellow passengers from the Great State of Iowa lamented the fact that there was a decided lack of intellectual pursuits. Well, most people on these ships are on vacation and, just as they did in school, they see vacation as a time away from thinking.

During the meeting Malcolm says the pilots will board at 0500 on Saturday morning. I have never had a chance to see them board but have seen them leave the ship after leaving the harbor.

A pilot is a person who knows the harbor and its approaches. His or her job is to guide the ship safely into port to the dock. When the ship sails the pilot guides it back to the open sea. A small boat follows the ship out and at the appointed time comes along side and the pilot or pilots leave the ship. I have seen this pickup as it occurs almost directly under my cabin. The person steering the pilot boat is an accomplished ship handler; that much is obvious. While we never encountered rough water, the pilot boat must come close in alongside to permit the pilot to board the pilot boat.

The Victory is not moving too fast but there is still a wake that tosses the pilot boat (30 feet long, is my guess) about. I see the pilots dressed in lifejackets with flashing lights. They descend a flexible ladder and drop a foot or two onto the forward deck of their boat. The pilot boat draws away to get out of the wake from the Victory and then turns and returns to the harbor.

My last chance to see the pilots come on board is missed as I am still asleep at 0500 on Saturday morning. I do arise an hour later and get ready for breakfast. Following that I return to my cabin and make one last check of E-mail.

I use the last of my minutes reading topics on the Toy Train Mailing List (TTML), TCA’s on line toy train Yahoo discussion group. Try this link, toytrains@yahoogroups.com, to read it and you should also find out how to subscribe. If you are interested in toy trains this is the place to be.

Finally, I get my gear and make the trip to the Theater located in the bow. Various large spaces on the ship are used to assemble large groups of passengers as the ship sails under the Verrazano Bridge and up the Hudson to its pier in mid-town Manhattan. This allows the cabin stewards and housekeeping staff a chance to begin cleaning and setting up the cabins for the passengers who will board in the early afternoon. Once we leave, and entire new group of passengers will make the same cruise as those getting off this morning.

Our group number is called and we get off the Victory and head to customs. Customs agents look at our passports, collect our customs declarations and point us in the direction of our luggage.

This is a large area with numbered spaces. Each passenger has been issued tags for their luggage containing a Zone Number. You go that zone in the “Sea of Luggage” find your bags and then get a porter to get them to the street and ground transportation.

One my responsibilities was to get the luggage of the part of the TCA group traveling on busses to and from Strasburg off the busses and on the ship. Then, I was to get it from the pier to the busses for the trip home. Basically, it worked well. Some people find this process arduous but once I discovered that most of the head porters are Italian, things fell into place very nicely.

As a final official act, Jane and I, with some help from Clem and Sandy Clement, distributed the special custom made 2008 TCA Legacy Cruise cars. There were 129 people on the cruise who received one, as did the Captain, Gianpaolo Casula. Carnival Cruise Lines home office in Miami received two for a total of 132 cars. I wish good luck to those who would like to find one on the secondary market.

Parts 6 and 7 were finished following my return but I tried to keep them as they were in my notes when I worked on them aboard the ship.

TCA Legacy Cruise, Part Six

2008-09-26T08:11:00.003-04:00

Prior to my coming on this cruise here was my impression of what it was like to be on a cruise ship. You spend your entire time eating, drinking and sleeping. This is interrupted by trips ashore where you sample local restaurants and bars while you are shopping.

When it comes to ships my thought is that if they do not have guns and/or airplanes on them there really is no reason to on them. I have not changed my mind. Now, do not get the wrong idea. Cruise ships such as the M/S Carnival Victory are well appointed and easy riding. As I mentioned earlier, for those so inclined, there are a number of activities for those who do not wish to emulate the Coneheads consumption of mass quantities.

One of the most vivid memories of my youth is of a Boy Scout trip on a U. S. Navy destroyer in February. I was a junior in high school. A friend and I were to stand watch from 0001 to 0400 on the bridge. Down below it was obvious that conditions were rough.

When we got to the bridge, reached by not going outside (I did not grasp the significance of that), we were told we had the Port side watch and would alternate in 15 minute intervals. I was first.

This was a WW II Sullivan’s Class ship with 5 inch guns in two turrets forward. When I looked forward I could not see the number 1 gun as it was completely under water. Only the muzzle of number 2 gun was out of the water. At one point, I could have dipped my hand in the North Atlantic from the bridge. Looking aft was no better. I could see the tops of the stacks, the rear mast and that was it. Did I mention that it was windy and cold? That was a mild exaggeration; it was just plain hostile out there.

For some reason the Captain felt we needed to be proceeding with as much speed as we could muster. We were really moving along. I was inside the bridge at this point when I heard someone, obviously a lunatic say, “Prepare for high speed maneuvers.” What?

Now we were turning to Port and Starboard at a rapid rate. At one point, we sailed in a complete circle. It was dark and windy. I thought the thing was going to capsize at any second. Folks, when you are 100 feet up and you see waves going by on your level you get religion in a hurry. As I looked around the bridge I was nonplussed to see that I was the only one showing signs of concern.

Apparently bored by all this, someone said, “Sound General Quarters.” This is the call to battle stations. The alarms sounded and I told someone that our battle station was number 3 gun. A sailor looked at my friend and me and told an officer. We were escorted to the number 3 turret. As we could not see what was going on we sat on the floor and held on to anything that would keep us from rolling about like dice in a cup. Shortly thereafter, the order to secure was issued. Everyone returned to what they were doing previously. It was so dark I could hardly see a thing. We were still moving at a rapid clip.

On my next interval inside I heard a voice come over the loud speaker and say, “Can we slow down? We are taking a lot of water back here.” Then some said, “Engineering reports water coming into the engine room.” OK, I am no sailor but even I know that the water is supposed to be on the outside of the boat. This cannot be good. We slowed down but the wind and waves did not. I was relieved to get to my bunk.

The next day dawned cold but clear. It was good to see the sun and the waves were much smaller than during the night. I never found out why we were taking water. Scuttlebutt (rumors) had it that a watertight door on deck had sprung open. Once we slowed down it was secured (closed) and the pumps rapidly caught up with the water below. I was glad to see the dock.

The M/S Carnival Victory is much larger than that destroyer. It is closer to the size of a WW II aircraft carrier so it is stable and smooth riding. Only drawing 27 feet and being basically a big floating box might provide some interesting handling issues in a strong wind and sea but I can say that the ride has been smooth all the way. Actually, the North Atlantic has been as smooth as a sea of glass until today. Seas are running about 3 to 4 feet but the ship is barely rocking. No one has gotten seasick, at least to my knowledge.

Yes, I did get my nap and I am keeping up with E-mail and other projects from work, thanks to the marvel of modern communications.

TCA Legacy Cruise, Part Five

2008-09-18T19:17:00.013-04:00

As promised, here is some information on our ride: Carnival Cruise Line’s M/S Carnival Victory. She (ships, boats airplanes and steam locomotives are all female and I will leave it at that) was built in 2000 at Fincantieri Yards in Monfalcone, Italy. The ship is 895 feet long and 116 feet wide amidships (the widest part at the center of the ship). Registered in Panama, she is 101,509 tons. This is the internal volume of the ship.

She draws 27 feet, 3 inches of water maximum (this is the amount of the ship that is below the water line) which explains why the ship can enter some of the smaller, more shallow ports along the coast. From the bottom of her keel to the top of her mast is a distance of 237 feet, 6 inches. This is one big boat.

Cruising speed is 21 knots and she has a top speed of 23 knots. OK, time out.

A Knot is equal to 1.15 miles on land. If you take 1.15 times 21 knots you get a speed of 24.15 miles per hour which is not exactly setting the world on fire. However, if you travel at that speed for 24 hours you have covered 579.6 miles in a day. Not too shabby when I think back to the family vacations of my youth when my father wanted to cover 500 miles a day and this is a lot more pleasant. No offense to my father, but being eight years old and stuck in the back seat with my sister, was not a good time.

Propulsion is diesel driving two screws (propellers). Another set of diesels drives electric generators that supply the electric power used on board. The ship can be controlled from the bridge or from the engineering plant. Speed control is interesting as the pitch of the propeller blades can be varied to change the speed of travel. The bridge houses three separate control stations. One is in the usual location at the center of the bridge. The bridge (which is completely enclosed) has wings that permit viewing down the side of the ship, an important factor when it comes to docking. Each wing houses a control station used for docking. The usual crew on the bridge is four people, not counting the Captain, who may or may not be there.

Navigation equipment is state of the art and various domes house radar, satellite TV (DISH-TV) and Internet Access. WiFi is found throughout the ship.

A full passenger load is 2,758 and a full crew is 1,020. This trip is not full (it is amazing what people will tell you if you ask and listen). Carpeting is being replaced in a number of cabins. At least fifty have been done so far since we left New York. The work of maintaining the ship goes on daily.

To paraphrase a line from a Paul Newman movie,”What we have here is a moving hotel.” There are thirteen decks open to passengers. While the highest number is 14 there is no deck numbered 13. It is that old hotel thing, in which there is never a 13th floor. Eight of these decks are devoted all or in part to housing passengers. The higher you go the better the accommodations. Of course, the cost of those accommodations increases also.

The social life of the ship revolves around two areas. The first is decks 3, 4 and 5. Here you will find dining salons (rooms), the galley (kitchen), theater, shops, night clubs, places to dance and the all important casino. The shore excursion office and the purser’s office are also located here. The ship employs a number of photographers and videographers who are constantly in motion photographing passengers around the ship and as they enter ports of call. I spent a considerable amount of time fending off these seaborne paparazzi. All still photos are captured digitally and prints are available soon after being created. Having seen some of their work, I would have to say, it is nice but conventional. The video runs on the ship’s TV channels. Members of the TCA group are definitely not camera shy as many members of the group have had more than their 15 minutes of fame this week.

Directly amidships on Deck 4 is an atrium that is two decks high. A large dining salon is directly below. This makes it interesting when trying to get from one end of the ship to another as corridors on some decks dead end in the middle of the ship. Eventually, everyone learns that Deck 5 is the preferred route. The ship knows that also and the casino is located there. In that sense, the ship resembles a Las Vegas hotel as you need to transit the casino to get just about anywhere. The casino is open only when the ship is in international waters. Our route, to some extent, is planned to spend as much time there as possible.

Another social ‘hot spot” is topside on decks 9 through 14. Most of this space is weather deck (open to the elements). Here you will find a small miniature golf course, pools, spas, a walking track and a large amphitheater amidships with a really large TV. This is an area filled with deck chairs and crew members running around carrying trays of alcoholic drinks in novel looking containers. OK folks, more later. I am off to work on my E-mail, and hopefully, a nap.

TCA Legacy Cruise, Part Four

2008-09-18T19:17:00.012-04:00

Arrival in Halifax is under cloudy, threatening skies. The weather forecast is for showers. In my walk around town I do get wet.

Halifax is a nice, medium size city and the people are friendly enough. There is a Boardwalk along the waterfront that hosts the usual dining establishments as well as various water oriented attractions: harbor tours, maritime museums, historic vessels and retail shops. The building on the pier where we docked is chock-a-block with various types of shops selling clothing, jewelry and those kinds of things.

In 2005, following the National Convention in Seattle, I took some vacation in the Pacific Northwest. My travels took me to Victoria, British Columbia. After leaving the ferry I went to Canadian Customs where I was summarily pulled from line for “further investigation.” I will not bore you with the details but I did gain admission to our neighbor to the north. All in all, I did not find it to be a pleasant experience so I had low expectations for Halifax, especially as a native in Victoria said that Western Canada was “so much more friendly” than the eastern part. Because of Halifax, Canada is redeemed.

Halifax is a working port. There is a petroleum terminal on one side of the harbor and a container terminal on the other. There are also piers that handle more conventional (but increasingly rare) cargo.

The container terminal is in operation but does not appear to be operating at the frantic pace evident at some other places I have visited. Containers go on tracks and wheels (trains and trucks). This is not a terminal that has been reconfigured to handle the new class of container “super-ships” of 1,000 or more feet in length.

Next to the container terminal is a massive grain elevator. Near the end of the day some tugs assist an obviously empty bulk carrier to its pier. This ship appears to be a several hundred feet long and it will take some time to load it.

As the M/S Carnival Victory gets ready to cast off the sun breaks through. Sunset is a brilliant show of various colors. Two other cruise ships were in port along with us. One, the Princess Cruise Line’s Sea Princess is already gone when we leave. Princess Cruises is the line featured in the TV show “The Love Boat.” This show is generally credited with jump starting the interest in “cruising.” The other is the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Explorer of the Seas. Neither of these is as large as the Carnival Victory. Tomorrow is a day as sea as we return to New York for a Saturday arrival. I will use some of that time to pass along some information about the ship itself.

TCA Legacy Cruise, Part Three

2008-09-18T19:17:00.003-04:00

A day at sea.

We will not arrive in Halifax until early Thursday morning. The Internet connection is good but Verizon is very slow. Jane and I ran a scavenger hunt for the group this afternoon. Everyone had a good time and we will announce the winning team at the Farewell Cocktail Party on Friday evening.

A few people saw some whales during the late afternoon. I did not but most people did not see them either. The ship has a number of activities to keep its passengers occupied while at sea. There is a small miniature golf course, a water slide, various shows and classes. One of these, not attended by your Operations Manager, was towel folding.

Every night when you return to your stateroom you find a set of towels folded into a different figure. So far there has been a snowman, an elephant, a pig and something I did not recognize. It might have been a TTOS, LCCA or LOTS member. I have never seen one of those so, of course, I would not recognize one if I saw one.

The weather today at sea was delightful. It was warm and sunny with visibility easily being twenty or more miles.

TCA Legacy Cruise, Part Two

2008-09-16T16:13:00.014-04:00

Departing from Boston at night, even under less than ideal weather, was interesting. The M/S Carnival Victory is a modern ship (launched in 2000) and has thrusters mounted fore and aft (front and rear). These can move the ship sideways and this makes tugboats unneeded most of the time. We cleared Boston Harbor around 2300 hours and set course for Portland, Maine. We arrived there early Monday morning.

Watching from my stateroom I could see a lobsterman picking up his pots. While the boats used have changed over the years, the process itself has not. You put your pots into the water and they are marked by your floats. Each lobsterman has floats with a distinctive color and design.

I remember from my days of living in Massachusetts and Rhode Island years ago, I learned that you risked legal difficulties and grave personal injury (not necessarily in that order) if you fooled around with someone’s lobster pots. As we entered Portland Harbor we passed by a row of pot markers that indicated that two different people were working those waters.

Following breakfast, I settled down to work on E-mail and blog entries. Lunch was a relaxed affair with TCA members Gary Spears and Richard Vagner. Most of the conversation revolved around the Amish community in Lancaster County, PA.

I then went ashore and took a short walk to the grounds of the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum. I had seen the freight cars used by Maine two-foot gauge railroads from the ship. The real eye-catcher was a boxcar painted red and touting Ocean Spray Cranberries. Desert Division President and fellow passenger Katie Elgar had called me earlier to tell me about the museum.

The Museum houses an interesting collection of Maine two-footer passenger cars and a caboose. There is also a rail bus and an automobile converted to run on narrow gauge track. The walls are lined with dioramas and exhibit cases with small artifacts. Portland was also the home of the Portland Elevator Company and there is one, a freight version, on exhibit.

A significant part of the museum collection came from the Edaville Railroad in Massachusetts. The owner of some cranberry bogs purchased the rolling stock of some Maine two-foot gauge railroads and moved it to his cranberry bogs. Eventually, he made more money giving rides to tourists.

Things went downhill and with the exception of a standard gauge Climax geared locomotive, the collection ended up back in Maine. The Climax, one of only a few remaining (built by the Climax Manufacturing Company of Corry, PA), is at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA. I discussed this with a female staff member who was busily engaged in multi-tasking. She was running the gift shop and ticket counter and cleaning a model of a narrow gauge steam locomotive. When I mentioned the Climax she said, “I knew there was one but I never knew what happened to it.”

Museum admission of $10.00 includes a ride on the narrow gauge train. Unfortunately, there were no operating steam locomotives but there was an interesting diesel. The train consisted of a coach, an open car (a coach with the windows and most of the sidewalls removed) and a caboose. The ride went to within a block of the pier where we tied up and then changed direction and traveled along Casco Bay. We stopped just before venturing out on a trestle that ran to a swing type bridge that was old, rusty and in a permanently open position to permit river traffic. The trestle itself had been damaged by a fire set by vandals many years ago. Grand Trunk, the operator at that time, decided that repairs were not justified and abandoned the line. The Museum came along and that brings us up to the present time.

TCA Legacy Cruise, Part One

2008-09-16T12:15:00.005-04:00

OK folks, I am assisting your Director of Development, Jane Boyce, as group escort on the TCA Legacy Cruise. The ship left Saturday (13 September) from New York City. Seventy-five folks went via motor coach (a motor coach is a bus that has a restroom) from the National Toy Train Museum in Strasburg. The passenger piers are on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the 50’s (as in numbered streets for those not familiar with the Big Apple).

We sailed at 1600 hours and were treated to a spectacular view of the New York skyline on the port (left) side facing forward (front) and the New Jersey waterfront on the starboard (right) side. We passed Hoboken (deceased TCA member Frank Sinatra’s hometown) and the abandoned D L & W ferry terminal. Farther down, we passed the site of the old Colgate toothpaste plant. All of it is gone except for the sign and the clock that was on the building. These are now mounted together on the waterfront next to one of the high rise office buildings that now are on that site.

A bit farther down river we passed the old CNJ rail/ferry terminal. This is now Liberty State Park. Finally, we sailed past Ellis Island and then the Statue of Liberty. After passing Staten Island we sailed under the Verrazano Bridge and into the Atlantic Ocean.

The next morning the ship (M/S Carnival Victory) docked in Boston, MA. People began the first of several excursions ashore. The tide limited the ability to get returning passengers on board and some people stood in line for two hours. There was a lot of complaining. Here I should say that you cannot just walk on board the ship.

When we boarded our passports and tickets were checked three different times in the space of 1,000 feet. We were also photographed. To leave the ship you must have your room key scanned and then it must be scanned upon your return. In addition, there is a baggage screening when retuning to the ship. The entire process is similar to boarding an airplane but you have 2,758 passengers as well as some of the returning crew (it numbers 1,020) to get through the process. Despite all that we did leave Boston on time.

Growth in TCA

2008-09-04T15:30:00.021-04:00

One of the topics under discussion at the recent Board of Directors meeting in Burlington, Vermont was growth in TCA. Membership has been stagnant for some time and a number of conversations took place to address that issue. Those of you who have received and read the September issue of the National Headquarters News have seen the advertisement on page 87 that describes a membership drive beginning 1 November 2008.

While membership is stagnant, the Association has seen the creation of three new Chapters in the past two years. The "Grand Daddy" of these is the Rio Grande Chapter in Desert Division, founded in 2006. This year has seen two Chapters formed. Heart of America in Ozark Division and Bluegrass in Great Lakes.

Stagnant membership but an increase in chapters, what is going on here? Just a guess on my part but it appears that there are pockets of TCA members out there who see the hobby as a living, growing thing and they want to share that with others. Perhaps they are not buying into the decline of the hobby line being peddled by some at meets, on line and elsewhere. They are on a mission to find like-minded people in their area and get them involved.

I would contend that it is groups of people such as these that will help TCA to increase its membership over the next few years. They have a positive attitude, enthusiasm and still know that this is all about toy trains and want to have a good time. If this sounds like the "old days" it probably is.

That last paragraph included the word enthusiasm. It is an important part of the success of any organization. Enthusiasm is critical to sustaining an organization because without it, the organization will wither and die. If anyone wants to see what enthusiasm can do then take a look at Lone Star Division in Texas and Louisiana.

Three years ago Hurricane Katrina sailed through that part of the country and caused widespread devastation. TCA members lost homes, jobs, friends, relatives and collections. The existence of some chapters was in doubt. This year the Division lost its long time president, Bill McClanahan. Yet, the members of the Division banded together and worked to salvage lives disrupted by one of this country's greatest natural disasters. Lone Star is alive and well.

There are several reason for this but I would offer this one for consideration here. Over the years those toy trains enabled a number of people to meet each other and forge friendships that have withstood very trying times. When disaster struck they banded together and worked their way out of it. Yes, there is still a lot of work remaining in that area to return it to normal but the Division is well on its way back and my guess is after that working through this adversity it will be stronger than ever.

I truly believe that the efforts I have described here will lead to increased membership for TCA in the near future and that there will be an ever increasing number of people who will say, "If it were not for this old toy train, none of us would ever have known each other."

Frank Hare

2008-08-15T11:58:00.029-04:00

Former TCA National President, Frank Hare passed away on Monday 11 August 2008. Frank was one of several past national presidents I got to know in the early days of my career as TCA Operations Manager. In our infrequent, too infrequent actually, discussions, I found him to be a true gentleman.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published Frank's obituary on Wednesday 13 August 2008. The link below will take you to that piece. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08226/903791-122.stm. I think it conveys a lot of what Frank was like.

I would like to thank Gary Rotstein, who wrote it and Diana Forsthoffer who helped me with the link to the article. She tells me that while on line newspapers are still evolving this article should be available for some time to come.

TCA Quarterly Now On line

2008-08-14T10:53:00.029-04:00

Recently, TCA rolled out another benefit of membership. Back issues of The Train Collectors Quarterly are now on line in the Members Only section of http://www.tcamembers.org/. The issues are searchable and there is an index coming.

Access to this section requires a free registration. This registration creates a TCA X-change (http://www.tcabuysell.org/) account at the same time and the log in codes work for both sites. Our philosophy is to keep things as simple as possible.

I, for one, am very happy to see this project come to fulfillment. It was a huge task and there are a lot of people to thank for their hard work. Ron Morris and the Library & Historical Committee, the Internet Committee, TCA Librarian Jan Athey, IT Manager Nicole Peace, Jim Alexander of JimQuest Communication and Dan Dwaddy of Ribbonrail Productions worked together to deliver a quality product to TCA members.

This represents a major step forward for TCA as the Quarterly is a high quality publication that numbers among its editors such TCA notables as Lou Redman, Frank Hare, Editor Emeritus Bruce Manson and currently TCA member Mark Boyd. It is nice to see the work of past editors and authors preserved for the education and reading pleasure of future generations.

This new benefit offers a major service to the newer members of TCA. You will be amazed by how much youcan learn about toy, scale and model trains and the people and companies who produced them. The more you know about your hobby the more enjopyable it becomes. As we all know, educated collectors are smart collectors.

After reading some of these issues, perhaps more people will agree with me when I say that TCA is an organization that is deeply involved in preserving the legacy of an entire industry: toy train manufacturing. For those who wich to learn more about the hobby, the Train Collectors Quarterly is a great "fit" with the National Toy Train Museum and e*Train, the on line magazine of TCA, edited by TCA member Bob Mintz. These three components combine to educate TCA members and that allows them to more fully enjoy their part of what I call the "Railroad Interest Hobby."

Why the TCA VISA Card?

2008-07-21T16:05:00.011-04:00

Back around 1992 or '93 a bank (now known as Bank of America) approached TCA about issuing a TCA VISA card. It would come with a low interest rate and some other features that the bank felt would make it attractive to TCA members.

The card was also attractive to TCA because the bank would pay TCA a royalty (reward) for every member who agreed to take the card and also when card holders used their cards. Over the years this has grown in to a substantial amount of money.

In the last few years, royalty payments on the TCA VISA card have been about the same amount of money that would be paid in dues by 1,000 members. This has made it possible for TCA to stave off even more frequent requests for dues increases. It has also made it possible for TCA to keep the requested amounts low.

Here I will point out that the last dues increase amounted to 1.9 cents per day. The one currently under consideration is 0.82 cents per day. While no one wants to raise dues, I think that everyone can agree that these amounts are extremely minimal.

To return to the subject of the TCA VISA Card, let me say that we really want more TCA members to accept this card and use it. In an organization of 30,000 members there are only about 2,000 TCA VISA Cards in use and I have one of them.

It is a fact of modern life that most people use two financial instruments with ever increasing frequency. One is a Debit Card and the other is a Credit Card. Cash and checks, while they will never disappear, are rapidly falling into disuse.

Here is what you can do to aid TCA in its "Battle of the Budget." Sign up for the TCA VISA Card. You can do this by clicking the link found on www.tcamembers.org. It is easy and secure. Once the card arrives use it in place of the card you are now carrying.

TCA receives a financial gain each time the card is used and as I pointed out above, it helps to reduce the need to increase dues. If just one third of the membership (10,000 members) used the TCA VISA Card this latest dues increase would not be necessary.

As noted previously on this blog, Those who hold a TCA VISA Card can now renew their TCA Membership on line. Other benefits for those holding the TCA VISA Card are in the works. Why did we undertake this? Because the TCA VISA Card provides a significant financial lift to TCA that other credit cards do not supply.

You can help TCA in two ways.
First, you can vote for the dues increase.
Second, you can get and use the TCA VISA Card.

An Easy One

2008-07-18T15:21:00.004-04:00

Every once in a while I get a break and can use something created for another use as a blog entry. Well come on folks, I work darn hard for you and deserve a break once in a while.

I urge you to read the blog entry just below this one (it will go out as an E-blast) and check out the 2009 Convention Cars at http://www.tcamembers.org/offers/conventioncars/2009/index.htm. You can order these if you want and right now you get a 5% discount for doing so.

TCA Announces New Member Benefit

2008-07-18T15:20:00.004-04:00

TCA Operations Manager John V. Luppino announced that beginning Monday 21 July 2008 TCA members who carry the Bank of America/TCA Visa Card can renew their membership on line at http://www.tcamembers.org/. “We wanted to give our members additional value for carrying the TCA Visa card and for being TCA members. This is just one of several membership benefits that are planned to operate in conjunction with this TCA Visa card,” said Luppino.

This renewal process is completely secure and is a part of the new Members Only section of http://www.tcamembers.org/. As this section is developed, TCA members will find more services just for them. The public side of the website will remain open to members and non members alike and continue to host a wealth of information about the Train Collectors Association.

To access the members only section, each TCA member will need to register. This registration process will also serve to establish an account on the TCA X-change, an on line buy/sell/trade site that is a greatly expanded electronic version of the printed Interchange Point found in the National Headquarters News.

“A lot of people worked very hard on this project,” said Luppino. “I would like to thank various members of the Internet Committee, Nicole Peace, IT Manager, Carol Bair, Association Bookkeeper and our partners at Bank of America, Bank of Lancaster County and especially JimQuest Communications and Ribbonrail Productions for their patience and hard work on this project. It proved to be an idea that was easier dreamed than executed but no one ever gave up and we finally surmounted all the challenges.”

Kids Club Car: An Investment in the Future

2008-07-01T09:42:00.050-04:00

First, a word from our sponsor.

The photo at right (click on photo to enlarge), is the 2008 Kids Club Car. It is an operating car that will unload mail just as the real car did on the Oil City & Titusville RR many years ago. This car costs $59.99 plus a few dollars for shipping and handling. Production is limited to 300 and less than 100 remain. It can be ordered on line from the Museum store at the National Toy Train Museum. The deadline for orders is Friday 15 August 2008.

To order visit: http://www.nttmuseum.org/
And now, on with the show.

When I first began working for TCA I quickly learned that some members look upon trains as an investment. It is their hope that their train collections will provide financial security for their families after they are gone.

I do not claim to be a savvy investor but I find that to be a bit presumptuous. However, the idea of trains being an investment does have another connotation.

To survive, any organization must add to its membership. First, there must be enough new members to cover attrition, especially that found in collector type organizations as collecting is not generally a younger person's game. Second, the organization must recruit additional members to increase the membership. Both of these are considerable challenges in the 21st century.

We already know that if we can get children interested in trains they will remain interested until they reach that most difficult period of life: Junior High School through College Graduation. An interest in trains returns after navigating all that. For some it retuns with the birth of the first child. For others it comes later but it almost always comes back.

So how is the Kids Club Car an investment? Giving it to a child can spur an interest in trains. This car will unload mail from the center door so it provides two things that attract children: movement and action. "Two for one money," as I heard an auctioneer say years ago.

Trains can be used as a vehicle to teach many things: values, sharing, problem solving and other things almost too numerous to mention. A train given to a child is an investment in her/his future as well as the railroad interest hobby in general and quite possibly TCA specifically.

Based on the looks I saw on children's faces when they saw the operating layouts at the recently concluded national convention, I conclude say kids are very interested in trains. Because of the many positive things that can be conveyed using trains I would say that the cost of this car is a small amount to pay for a brighter future for many people.

Saturday Night Surprise

2008-06-30T10:31:00.010-04:00

The banquet that closed the 54th TCA National Convention held a few surprises. One was National President Chris Allen asking me to stand to acknowledge my ten years as your Operations Manager.

It is difficult to believe that I have been doing this for ten years. When I look back, the first thing that comes to my mind is all people I have met during that time. With a very few exceptions, who will go unnamed, a bunch of very nice people. So as to not forget anyone, I will not "name names" but I want to thank all those who offered advice on various issues, offered to help on others or just dropped me a letter, E-mail or telephone call to say hello. I appreciate all of it.

Perhaps the thing I love (and that is not too strong a word) about being your Operations Manager is that this job actually let me discover what I am good at and like most. That is being able to do something or help someone and not have a big deal made out of it. Because of my position I am thrust into the limelight far too often. I would avoid that f I could.

The second surprise came during the distribution of the table prizes. This year NETCA used a Wheel of Fortune format where a spinning wheel determined the winners. On the first spin for the banquet car (a highly desirable item) the winner turned out to be me. But hold there a minute. Someone decided that the pointer had actually stopped between two different numbers. It took several spins to determine the winner. The car went to the person to my left, Quarterly Editor Mark Boyd. A subsequent spin saw me win one of the other two cars on the table. I promptly donated it to the grandfather sitting to my left so he could give it to his granddaughter. We need to get kids interested in trains you know.

Later, I took up President Allen on his open invitation to his suite following the banquet. After talking to a number of members I ended a long day. My plan was to get on the road in time to catch the 0600 ferry from Charlotte, Vermont to Essex, New York. I dropped off to sleep hoping the trip home would be less arduous than the one I had getting here.

Smiling Faces

2008-06-28T14:03:00.009-04:00

Friday and Saturday of the National Convention sees more tours to various parts of the area of the convention. The trading pits, the public display area and the Kids Club room all open at 0900 on Friday morning. When this happens children become very much in evidence.

Now understand, I do not have any children and, being unmarried I do not anticipate having any, especially at my age. This means that raising children is very much a foreign concept to me but I do know happy children when I see them.

Believe me if you walk through the public display area or the Kids Club Room you WILL see happy children. Seeing the look on their faces when they see the operating layouts will dispel any doubt about a lack of interest in trains.

For me, Friday and Saturday are the best part of the convention. The arduous work of the Board of Directors Meeting is over. This is a time to chill a bit and talk to individual members and their families.

At my first convention in Providence RI in 1998, the two days at the end of the convention was my first indication of just how many really friendly and helpful people there are in TCA. Talking to those people and seeing the look on those kids faces when they see those trains makes all the meetings and long hours worth it.

Board of Directors Meeting

2008-06-27T22:02:00.008-04:00

While most of the folks at the Convention were having breakfast or boarding buses for one of the many Convention trips, Wednesday morning found your Board of Directors getting a course in parliamentary procedures prior to the beginning of their meeting.

The Board meeting is a two day affair that, among other things, considers motions that change operating policy, adjusts finances, listens to membership complaints, approves convention cars and accepts nominations of candidates standing for election. With the exception of the membership complaint process, all of this is open to any member attending the convention.

Getting There Is NOT Always Fun

2008-06-25T17:19:00.016-04:00

I like to drive. Some say I drive a bit faster than I should. It is a family trait. I hesitate to use the word "flaw" because I do not see it that way. But I digress.

On Tuesday 24 June I took to the road to Burlington, VT. Based upon my calculations, I believed leaving at 0600 hours would get me to Burlington no later than 1400 hours, probably sooner.

Unfortunately, I did not consider "Rush Hour." I hit rush hour in Lancaster, Reading, Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, PA. Then came the "Mother of All Rush Hours:" New York City. I crossed into New Jersey and picked up I-287. Traffic had already been bumper to bumper since shortly after crossing the Delaware River. After a few miles it was crawling at 10 mph and then just stopped. It was stopped for 20 minutes. I was not happy.

Finally, it began to move but very slowly. There was another stoppage that latest about 5 minutes. Once again traffic began to move. A few minutes later flashing lights began to come into view. I saw the reason for the long delay. A car had caught fire and now it sat along side the road burned to a crisp. It was fairly large and a total loss.

As I moved farther north traffic began to thin out and then began to get heavier going the other way. This was a sure sign I was around "The City" as we called it when I was in the photo/video business. The pace picked up.

Hours later I was approaching the Charlotte-Essex Ferry. Fate intervened. A crucial sign indicating a turn to get to the ferry slip was missing. I sailed past the intersection. Several miles later (I had some great views of Lake Champlain) two things happened almost simultaneously. One was the realization that I had missed a turn or two to get to the ferry. The other was seeing that the Low Fuel light was lit.

As this car does not have a display that indicates how many miles you can go until "Empty" I have learned how to do some quick calculations. The odometer tracks two individual trips and I always use one of them to record mileage from my last fill up. I did some quick math and realized that I did not have enough gas to make it to Burlington. Now, I was looking for a gas station. The ferry slip could wait.

As luck would have it, I managed to find the most expensive gas around ($4.439 a gallon). Following that, I found the ferry and the rest of the trip was uneventful. While it took far longer than expected, I was finally in Burlington and quickly remembered why I like going to TCA events: I began to see TCA members that I had not seen in a long time.

Convention Bound

2008-06-20T13:12:00.007-04:00

In just a few days I will be driving to Burlington, Vermont to participate in the 54th TCA National Convention. As is usually the case, the Board of Directors will meet on Wednesday and Thursday and that will occupy a large portion of my time.

My other convention activities include attending the Welcome Party and helping to staff the National information table near the entrance to the public exhibits on Friday and Saturday. I am hoping that many of you will stop by to say hello during the convention.

A very long time ago, I lived in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. At that time I worked for a well-known snack food manufacturer. I always found New England to be a great place to live and work. Almost without exception, everyone I met was friendly and helpful. While I have not visited there for many years I am not expecting that to be different.

Ambrose v. TCA and Eastern Division TCA

2008-05-19T11:26:00.007-04:00

On Tuesday 13 May 2008, Federal Judge Arthur J. Schwab issued his decision
granting the motion for Summary Judgment in favor of the Train Collectors
Association and Eastern Division TCA. In so doing the case between Paul
Ambrose and the Train Collectors Association and Eastern Division TCA has
been marked closed. Mr. Ambrose has thirty days to appeal this ruling.

Neither TCA nor Eastern Division TCA has any comments to make at this time

National Headquarters News Update

2008-04-29T17:34:00.011-04:00

After going to press the following changes were made to the Kids Club Car offering seen on page 10 of the May 2008 issue of the National Headquarters News.

The order deadline was extended to 15 August 2008
The number of cars that will be produced is now limited to 500.

These changes occurred during the meeting of the Kids Club Committee during the Eastern Division Spring Meet at the York Fairgrounds.

As the next issue of the National Headquarters News will hit the stands after the deadline, I am taking advantage of the Internet to keep members up to date on changes in the Association.

We will also be doing an E-blast to those members who are on the E-mail list about this unusual offering.

More on TCA NetVision

2008-04-25T09:42:00.004-04:00

Video from Toy Train Fair is now posted at http://www.tcamembers.org/. There are ten videos added to the three others I recently discussed on this blog. Take a few miniutes and give them a look.

There you go, short and sweet.

Toy Train Fair

2008-04-21T21:43:00.003-04:00

Since its inception in April 2007, Toy Train Fair at the National Toy Train Museum has grown. The recently concluded edition was the most successful one to date. Several people deserve credit for this. First and foremost are the members of the Education & Museum Committee who had the layouts running flawlessly and the Museum well organized to host almost 600 visitors.

The Buildings and Grounds staff and the Office Staff had their areas looking "as shiny as a new dime" and people did notice.

The unsung heroes of the day are the members of the Parking Crew. These TCA members are on their feet and out in the weather all day making sure that all visitors get a place to park and/or a place on the shuttle.

The video from Toy Train Fair will soon be on www.tacmembers.org. I hope you will give it a look. Better yet, come to the next Toy Train Fair in October and be a part of the action and excitement yourself.

News Shows on TCA NetVision

2008-04-09T14:05:00.022-04:00

TCA NetVision, TCA's visual presence on the Internet, has just released three new shows, with more to come. These programs give TCA members, and non members, a look inside the workings of the National Toy Train Museum and the Toy Train Reference Library. If you want an idea of what happens in the Museum during the winter work period then you need to see "Winter Work at the Museum."

Those who think a library is just a quiet room filled with books are behind the times. Take a look at "Work in the Library" and that will change your mind. The Library & Historical Committee led by Chair Bill Blystone and directed by TCA Librarian Jan Athey is busy throughout the year collecting, cataloging and preserving the recorded history of the toy train industry.

I know this sounds like a commercial and in some respects I suppose it is. We could always use help in the museum and library. The goal is to build a corp of volunteers who will work with visitors and in outreach. "Why would I want to volunteer," you ask? "Why Volunteer at TCA?" answers that question in the words of several of those who do it.

Here is a link to take you directly to TCA NetVision: http://www.tcamembers.org/netvision/index.htm.

Education & Museum Co-chairs, Keith Arnold and Paul Edgar, would like to recruit and train some people who would give guided tours of the museum and assist visitors in operating the ever-growing number of interactive exhibits being added to enhance the museum experience at the National Toy Train Museum.

Another goal is to have this group take the museum, or at least some of its programs, to places outside the museum. About two years ago, the museum developed a program featuring train races.

This is an outgrowth of the very popular train feature in the Kids Club Room at the National Convention (this year being held in Burlington, VT - OK, another shameless plug but I want you come to Burlington). Train races are fun, of course, but they are also educational.

They teach children how to judge speed and distance and how to handle the controls to avoid derailing. They also teach sportsmanship, fair play and how to get along with other people. When watching adults doing the train races it is obvious that some of these lessons need to be relearned or at least, undergo a "refresher course."

Several places in the Lancaster area have heard about our train races and have requested that we bring them to their events. Among those events are the Whoopie Pie Festival (if you have never had a Whoopie Pie then you need to come to this event) at Hershey Farm and Fly, Ride and Drive at the Dutch Wonderland Amusement Park.

Jan Athey has plans to make the library collections more accessible to visitors whether they walk through the door or come via the Internet. She needs help and people who have computer skills and who enjoy data entry and a bit of detective work are welcome. Jan did say that it is OK to read what you are working on and most people find that temptation hard to resist.

Finally, check back with NetVision at the end of April for a round up of Toy Train Fair (a marketplace featuring some of the leading manufacturers in the hobby) at the National Toy Train Museum on Wednesday 16 April 2008. This is a part of the day long Members Appreciation Day and Open House at the Museum. Toy Train Fair runs from Noon to 1400 hours. At 1500 hours MTH will hold forth in the lobby followed by Lionel at 1600 hours. This is your chance to talk one-on-one with the movers and shakers in the railroad interest hobby. Do not miss it!

A Job Well Done

2008-03-31T07:49:00.007-04:00

Saturday and Sunday 29 and 30 March saw a beehive of activity at the National Toy Train Museum. Both the Library and Museum Committees were out in full force putting the final touches on the place in preparation for the season opening on Saturday 5 April 2008.

My thanks to all on both committees as well as Jan Athey, Association Librarian and Jane Boyce, Director of Development for all their hard work also.

There are a number of changes at the Museum and I am using this entry to encourage everyone to visit.

Progress

2008-03-29T20:00:00.012-04:00

I am happy to report that as of Thursday 28 March the permit applications to begin design of a new sewer system at the National Headquarters were completed and returned to the engineering firm working on the project. They assure me that the applications will be filed with the DEP (that is the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for those of you who reside outside PA).

The review process will take a few months, but once completed, we will be able to design a new sewer plant for your property in Strasburg. This is a major step forward and makes it possible to have a working sewer system in place by the beginning of 2010.

Yes, I said 2010. That seems hard to believe but it is not that far away. What is more difficult to believe that we have been picking away at this problem since August of 2000.

It is a long story but I can say with certainty that every solution that was proposed was investigated to the fullest degree possible. The downfall of almost every on site solution is the lack of space to put a processing structure that can handle possible output of the system. Access to public and private systems was found to be too expensive or too fraught with red tape requiring years and years of negotiation, legal wrangles, court cases and money.

If you live outside Pennsylvania you do not have an appreciation for local conditions that influence decisions on land use and waste water management. It has been a long haul but we are now really making progress.

In the Strasburg area, land use (read that as development such as homes, businesses and industries) is a critical issue. As critical is the flow of water and its contents into the Chesapeake Bay. Here is a quick geography lesson.

All of rivers in Pennsylvania except for those in the southeast and southwest corners flow into the Susquehanna River and that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. Technically the Chesapeake is not a bay, it is an estuary but who cares about that? What really has people up in arms is all the run-off in the water the Susquehanna delivers to the Bay. It contains farm chemicals, dirt, waste and a lot of other stuff that you do not need a microscope to find. None of it is good for what tries to live in the Bay.

Enter Lancaster and York counties. As they are primarily agricultural counties (both are considered farming powerhouses in PA), they were identified by the feds as major contributors to the pollutants entering the Chesapeake Bay. As a result increasingly restrictive regulations are being enacted to curtail some of this pollution. Unfortunately, some of them apply to TCA and hence the long drawn out process of inspection and approval.

At this point I can only ask that you continue to show the patience with the situation you have shown over the past years. We really are moving and it will be finished sooner than you think.

AD & D Insurance Policy

2008-03-26T16:44:00.007-04:00

Recently, several members and/or their survivors have contacted the National Business Office to inquire about the status of the American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida Accidental Death & Dismemberment policy that was given to TCA members over a decade ago.

To date, we have addressed these inquiries on an individual basis and, of course, we will continue to do so. However, when National President Chris Allen and I discussed this I realized that because of the passage of time, inquires will be increasing, not decreasing. I did some research and here is what I found.

The file on this is very thin. It appears to have begun in 1996-97. According to my predecessor’s annual report, 4,904 members actually took advantage of the free $2,000.00 AD & D policy. The company that originally offered this was American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida.

In January 1999, Econ-O-Check Corporation sent a letter on behalf of American Bankers to us stating that coverage for policy holders age 70 and over was being reduced by 50%. This was to go into effect on 1 February 1999. Therefore the original $2,000.00 is now $1,000.00 for what could be the vast majority of the policy holders. The letter that actually went to the policy holders also states that at age 75 there is an additional reduction of 50% so now the actual value of this $2,000.00 policy is $500.00, if it is still in effect.

In October 2001, Econ-O-Check sent us a letter saying that the policies were taken over by Monumental Life Insurance Company of Baltimore, MD. A letter was sent to all the policy holders that included this sentence, "Any complimentary insurance that may be provided by your financial institution will remain in force through October 31, 2002."

The most recent entry in the file is a letter dated August 13, 2002. The opening paragraph reads as follows. As you know, effective November 1, 2001, Monumental Life Insurance Company of Baltimore, Maryland became the insurance provider for the Econ-O-Check Customer" Thank You" Program (Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance Program). You will recall that, at that time, Monumental required that the complimentary, "free $2,000" portion of the program be revised to expire 12 months from that date.

Based on all this it appears that if our folks did not act on the letter they received in October 2001 their insurance expired. If they did take action they would have an insurance certificate that would help them to establish a claim.

Here I will add that this is an Accidental Death & Dismemberment policy. My guess is that vast majority of the policy holders will not qualify for a payment upon their demise. We have had several requests for assistance in my tenure here. In all but one case in my memory, these folks did not qualify for the payment as the death of the policy holder was not accidental.

My guess is that if any of these policies are still in force, and it appears from what I read, they are not, they are worth somewhere between $500.00 and $1,000.00 for the vast majority of the policy holders. We need to remember that 1996 was 12 years ago, and a 60 year old member then is now 71 or 72.

As much as I hate to see our folks lose out, I must admit that the letter they received in 2001 did point out ways to keep their coverage in effect. If they exercised that option then they have coverage.

An Honest Mistake

2008-03-25T18:45:00.005-04:00

On page 89 of the May 2008 issue of Classic Toy Trains, under Events in Pennsylvania you will find this listing:

York: TCA Show & Swap Meet – Apr. 15, 16. Holiday Inn, 2000 Loucks Rd. 9 a. m. to 6 p. m.. Christina Cross 717-846-9500 ex 7321.

This listing is incorrect in stating that this is a TCA meet. It is not. The listing was supplied to Classic Toy Trains by the Holiday Inn. From everything that anyone can discern, this was an honest mistake by an over enthusiastic, uninformed employee of the Holiday Inn.

Keystone Division President, Paul Edgar, has discussed this situation at some length with the folks at the Holiday Inn. Paul will be posting something similar to this on the Toy Train Mailing List (TTML). Of course, it is not possible to remove or correct the listing in Classic Toy Trains. Other than that, it would appear that everything that can be done to rectify this situation has been done.

March National Headquarters News

2008-03-07T11:27:00.006-05:00

By now, most of you should have received your copy of the March Issue of the National Headquarters News. You have noticed that this issue arrived in an envelope rather than tabbed sealed and addressed.

This does not mark a change in policy. We did this to address a problem encountered at the printing plant. The covers of the News were badly curled, too badly to seal, address and run through the postal machinery. The printer graciously acknowledged the error and covered the cost involved to get the News to you on time.

One of the advantages of the Internet and of having this blog is the ability to communicate with those members who have Internet access.

Trains, and Cars, A Welcome Relief

2008-02-25T09:22:00.022-05:00

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to get together with a large number of TCA Members and antique car collectors in Northern Virginia. It was at the home of one of TCA's hard working National Officers. He and his wife are interested in both so the crowd, and it was a crowd, contained both groups.

I did get to see a very interesting and extensive collection of Standard Gauge and home made trains. It is the later that I find very interesting.

There is an art form called Folk Art. Proportions are skewed, colors are bright, sometimes garish and figures are sometimes cartoon like. For those how have been fortunate enough to visit the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in Williamsburg, Virginia, you will have an understanding and appreciation for what I am posting here.

Some of these homemade trains fall into the Folk Art category, at least in my mind. Here I am thinking about the proportions (think Lionel short passenger cars) and bright colors (think Marx lithographed trains, as well as their out of scale proportions).

The National Toy Train Museum has a very nice collection of Marx Trains on exhibit. These are on loan from TCA Ed Heim. While most of them are what I remember most about Marx trains, there are also some die-cast plastic pieces on exhibit as well. This should give TCA members and non members alike yet another reason to visit the Museum when it opens for the 2008 season on Saturday 5 April. But I digress.

The homemade trains did not really fall into any one particular gauge or scale. They ran the gamut from very large to very small. Some featured an adaptive reuse of materials, there was a steam locomotive constructed from Pepsi cans. Others used more esoteric materials and parts of trains that were kit-bashed to make something new and original.

The common thread through all these was the use of imagination by the maker and it was obvious that each person had put a great amount of thought and ingenuity into their one-off creation. One might ask why someone would collect trains that are one of a kind by unknown makers.

Perhaps, it is because they show the human side of the hobby. It is, after all, a sharing of a passion for toy, scale and model trains that draws everyone together. Seeing how others use various materials and bring their ideas to fruition can be an inspiration to others. This is a good way to “recharge your batteries” if that modeling project is not going well, progress on the layout is up to the desired pace or that special item keeps eluding you are meets or on the TCA X-change.

“Train people” are all too often perceived by those outside the hobby of denizens of damp basements or hot attics. Hosting an open house for your friends both train and non-train can be a rewarding experience. Who knows you might discover some “closet” train people as well.

For me, this was a welcome change from the day-to-day challenges of serving as the TCA Operations Manager. While I am certainly interested in trains of all sizes, I seldom have an opportunity to "play" with my own trains. Seeing some great cars, an operating layout and talking to friendly people from two hobbies was a "walk in the park" for me.

Docksider Locomotives Cancelled

2008-02-04T09:04:00.000-05:00

Most of us "got into" trains (regardless of their size) because we like them. We like being around them and we like watching them run. Some people like to collect them because they enjoy looking them. Others collect them because they like operating them.

Back in 2001 we began a series of cars that compose the National Toy Train Museum Work Train. The though and some or most of the advertising said that if sales of the cars warranted it a locomotive would conclude the set in 2008. We have been offering a locomotive, a Lionel 0-6-0 tank engine, for sale since November 2007. Available in two sizes, "O" and "S" gauge, both are Lionel products.

Unfortunately, sales have been very disappointing, so disappointing that I had to cancel the production of the locomotives. We are beginning to notify, via US Mail, the few purchasers that their locomotive will not be delivered in late 2008.

I do want to thank all those who supported the NTTM Work train over the years. At some point I will look at another locomotive to offer but cannot say when this will happen.

Happy New Year

2008-02-01T11:36:00.000-05:00

Time flies whether or not you are having fun. November, December and January have been busy and I am hoping that I can bring all of you (the three or four people who read this, not counting my mother) up to date. For the time being, let me say that the Galloping Goose was delivered in time for Christmas.

As many of you may know, most of the major manufacturers have moved production of theirproducts off shore, primarily to China and Korea. This has made it incresingly difficult for the Association to make July and August delivery dates. While I would like to be optimistic, I must tell you that I do not see this getting any better.

More later on a variety of subjects. In the meantime, I would encourage you to register for the 2008 National Convention in Burlington, Vermont.

2007 Convention Car Update - Galloping Goose Delayed

2007-10-29T09:07:00.000-04:00

This morning's E-mail contained an update from MTH on the Galloping Goose, a part of the 2007 Convention Car package. Production and delivery of this is being delayed because MTH is addressing two serious issues.

The first issue is one that has seen a considerable amount of coverage in the media - the use of lead based paint in toys and other products manufactured in the People's Republic of China (mainland).

A second issue involves wheel tolerance and this must also be resolved before the "Geese" are shipped to MTH.

Please understand that both issues must be addressed at the manufacturing plant if TCA members are to have trains that are both safe and perform as expected.

If the current schedule holds the entire "flock" should arrive by the end of November, thus insuring that those who made this purchase will have a "goose" for their holiday dinner.

While I am obviously making light on the word "goose," I do think that MTH deserves a considerable amount of credit for their commitment to customer service. They are working hard to ensure that those who purchased this unique item receive one that performs as promised and is safe to use.

Folks, that is something you do not see as often as you should in today's business climate. MTH deserves continued support from TCA members and the rest of the train buying public.

Members Day & Toy Train Fair

2007-10-17T16:09:00.000-04:00

While the weather this morning was a bit on the damp side, the spirits of the people on the Education & Museum Committee were just the opposite. Following last night's late session getting ready for Member's Day & Toy Train Fair, they gathered early this morning to put the final touches on the National Toy Train Museum which is celebrating its 30th Anniversary.

Everything looks great, layouts are in prime running condition, the spekers and rereshments are ready! This event is taking on a real party type atmosphere. There are tables with trains for sale, manufacturers explaining their line to visitors and refreshments galore.

One of the highlights of this particular day was the 30th Anniversary celebration of the founding of the National Toy Train Museum. As is the case with any birthday party worth its salt, there was cake and plenty of it.

To those of us who are older, 1977 does not seem that long ago. But those were the days of Jimmy Carter in the White House, Disco on the radio, rudimentary cell phones and no personal computers. How things have changed and the museum is no different.

From a small replica of a railroad station it has morphed into a 13,000+ square foot building that houses one of the largest publicily exhibited toy train collections in the country. There is a world-class reference library, a gift shop and a national business office. All of this is surrounded by Lancaster County, Pa. farmland.

By the time Lionel began their presentation, around 500 people had visited and many of them were still here. The day ended with the traditional children's prize drawing. Every child present was a winner.

Summer of Sadness

2007-10-17T08:19:00.000-04:00

Several years ago the mother of a friend of mine passed away. She had a large family and many friends and relatives. The funeral service was well attended. I overheard one of those in attendance say, “It is the cycle of life. "

First, you go to school. Then you go to weddings. Next are the baptisms. And then graduations, anniversaries and finally funerals.” All of us are somewhere in that cycle.

It would appear that, with TCA, I am moving to the funeral part. On of the things I read in each issue of the National Headquarters News is the column entitled “In Memory Of.” There was a time when I did not know anyone personally whose name appeared there. Or perhaps there was an occasional name and those appeared far apart.

The September and November issues are very different. For the first time, I personally knew a significant number of the people listed there. It was not a good feeling to know that people I had come to know, like and respect would no longer be seen at the National Toy Train Museum, the National Conventions or the Eastern Division Meets at York.

Years ago in a song called “My Way,” Frank Sinatra (83-19305) sang, “Regrets, I’ve had a few.” It takes the loss of a relative or friend to bring meaning to those words. My regret is that I did not spend as much time with those folks as I would have liked.

I am constantly reminded that we fail to profit from our experience and we learn the same lessons over and over. I suppose that makes all of us slow learners.

A Kingdom for a Proofreader

2007-07-14T09:25:00.000-04:00

Shakespeare would not be pleased with my paraphasing one of his most quoted lines but I am certain he would understand. In my opinion, which is the only one that counts on this blog as I do not permit comments, is that proofreading is a dying, if not dead art.

I have learned over the years that proofreading one's own writing is a difficult job. Perhaps it is my age, but I find proofreading on screen even more difficult. I find my most egregious error is omitting words as I type. Reading various publications leads me to think this issue is not mine alone.

The local newspapers here in Lancaster County are especially bad and they have also been known to misspell words in headlines. Various national publications are also guilty of the "word elimination syndrome."

Nevertheless, I will soldier on and will tweak previous posts as I find problems. That will probably include this one.

An Interest in Trains

2007-07-11T15:19:00.000-04:00

One of the misconceptions that is common in TCA is this one: there is a declining interest in railroads, trains and train collecting. In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.

Three things belie that idea. One is the World's Greatest Hobby Shows initiated by Kalmbach Publishing with extensive manufacturer support. These shows are drawing well in excess of 20,000 thousand people over their two-day runs. Surveys done on site indicate that a significant number of these folks are at their first ever train meet.

Another is visitors to your museum. For those of you who did not know that you, as a TCA member, are a part owner of a Museum allow me to introduce you to the National Toy Train Museum. You can learn more about it at http://www.nttmuseum.org/.

The museum hosts thousands of visitors each year. Most of them are families with children under the age of twelve. One does not need to spend a lot of time watching the visitors to realize that these children are very interested in trains. Remember, before you can collect something, you need to have an interest in it. Your museum is helping to spark that interest.

Finally, the museum is ably assisted in this effort by a Strasburg Rail Road program entitled: "A Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends." This event takes place three times each year and draws over 100,000 children and adults to Strasburg.

Yes, the interest is there. What is lacking is a willingness to buy old, overpriced trains from some unfriendly guy sitting on a chair saying, "Don't touch that." But more on that later.

Calling All TCA Photographers

2007-07-05T13:44:00.000-04:00

After more than nine years as your Operations Manager, I am learning that most of the members in the Association believe that we need to encourage more people to join TCA. The discussion always includes something along the lines of "great organization, friendly people, good time," etc.

We need to show that to people. One way is through photographs of people having a good time at TCA events. One way to get that message across is by posting photographs on Flickr, an Internet site that hosts photographs of all kinds.

I would ask that TCA members reading this blog would work with me to make their photographs available to members and nonmembers alike. If I get photos, I will set up a TCA Flickr site and we will post those digital photos that are E-mailed to us, providing they meet the standards of decorum expected in a family organization. They must have captions that include where the photo was created, the name of the event, the names of the people in the photos and the date you created the photo.

Most of us know that the Eastern Division does not permit photography of any type in the any of the halls at their semi-annual meets in York, Pa. However, there are no restrictions on taking photographs outside. I include this to make folks aware that they cannot break any rules of any Division or Chapter just to get a photo to post on Flickr. If you are in doubt about being able to photograph at a particular TCA event, please ask FIRST.

So to recap. Send your photos of TCA events to me at operations-manager@traincollectors.org. Be sure to include:

Location of the photo
Date you created the photo
Name of the event
Names of person or people in the photo

Sorry no slides or prints just digital files, .jpegs are preferred.

Convention Wrap-up Part 3

2007-07-04T13:58:00.000-04:00

When last we met I was discussing my giving away one of the table prizes at the convention banquet. That duly noted, let me describe one of the lesser known convention events: the Children's Banquet.

I am sure that in the earlier years of TCA this event had a larger number of participants than it does currently. Of course, the reason is that a large number of the members are beyond the years when children magically appear every so often. Can you tell that I am not a parent?

This year there were twenty-five attendees at the Children's Banquet and they had a special treat for dessert. It was an ice cream sundae served in an undecorated Williams hopper car. Each participant was permitted to keep the car and can decorate it in any way he or she chooses.

Knowing collectors as I do, this creates in interesting situation. Could this car be considered a "Banquet Car" in the sense the Association has created other Banquet Cars? How can this car be authenticated, especially after it has been decorated? Inquiring minds want to know?

This concludes my comments on the 53rd TCA National Convention. Again my thanks to all the Rocky Mountain Division folks who gave their time and effort to ensure that their fellow TCA members would have an enjoyable time. If there is someone out there who did, not my first reaction would be that you might be too difficult to entertain.

Convention Wrap-up Part 2

2007-07-03T14:19:00.000-04:00

While the most of the members attending the Convention in Denver were visiting interesting places and playing trains, I was working at the Board of Directors Meeting or answering questions at the National Information Table. I am not complaining as doing those things can provide a unique view of all the goings on.

One of the highlights of every convention is the banquet on Saturday night. It really is amazing to see people who were running around in shorts, t-shirts and flip flops change into fashion plates. One of the most common comments is, "Hey, you clean up pretty good."

Each table has a pile of trains and train related items in the middle. At some point a counting game is played to divide up the pile with the last person getting the much sought after Banquet Car.

Over the years I have never been fortunate to be that lucky person but if I were that car would suffer the same fate as everything else I have "won" at the banquet. I am not a collector but will admit to being a HO "shake the box" model railroader. Because of that I really have no need for what is part of the "loot" at the banquet table. So, every year I take what I received and give it to some unsuspecting child at the banquet. My belief is that it is never too early to get children interested in trains.

Stay tuned for more.

Convention Wrap-up Part 1

2007-07-03T10:23:00.000-04:00

The 53rd TCA National Convention is history and all the people on the Rocky Mountain Convention Committee did an outstanding job. Each one of them deserves the thanks of everyone who attended the Convention.

Unless one has worked on a large event, one has no idea of all that is required to make that event a success. This is especially true in this day and age as people are more demanding and a lot less patient than they were years ago.

Ron Stowell and his folks did a marvelous job keeping things on track (no pun intended) and I heard a lot of positive comments about the convention. My hope is that the people who came to Denver will return home and do two things.

First, I hope they will seriously consider attending next year's convention in Burlington Vermont. Second, I hope they will tell their friends about the great time they had in Denver and encourage those folks to go to Burlington.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Still Learning

2007-07-03T10:20:00.000-04:00

One would think that after years of using a computer for writing, the mechanics would be second nature. One would be incorrect. I am still learning the basics of how to manipulate the software that makes this blog possible. As I am sometimes prone to say, "I am an old dog and this is a very new trick."

The Choice Is Yours

2007-06-29T08:28:00.000-04:00

One of the high points of yesterday's session of the Board of Directors meeting was nominations for officers. The election will take place in September and the ballot will be in that month's issue of the National Headquarters News.

Here is a list of candidates and the offices for which they are vying.
President-elect:
William E. Miles, Jr.
Richard C. Clement
Vice president:
Paul Edgar
Ronald Stowell
Secretary:
Hope Danielson
Sarah Reed Lavinus
Treasurer: William J. Kotek
Investment Committee: Robert C. Hazlett, Jr.
All these folks are long time members of TCA and well qualified to fill the office they seek.

Please be on the lookout for the ballot that will be included in the September National Headquarters News. This is your organization and it is important that your voice be heard in choosing those who will lead it.

The Real Challenge

2007-06-28T16:54:00.000-04:00

Treating all members fairly is a challenge for any membership organization. The Board and employees face this on a regular basis.

In yesterday's session at the Board of Directors meeting a motion to reduce the size of Board was discussed. The motion was defeated and much of discussion revolved around the fair representation of all the members.

I will urge everyone who attends a National Convention to take the time to watch part of the Board of Directors meeting. It really is time well spent.

A Correction

2007-06-28T16:19:00.000-04:00

In my last posting I talked about Fed Claasen who volunteers to work registration at the National Conventions. I misspelled Fred's name and I wish to apologize.

Old Friends Everywhere

2007-06-27T07:48:00.000-04:00

Getting There

Considering the amount of indignity inflicted on airline passengers by the federal government and the airlines, my trip to Denver is smooth. Arrival is on time but getting from the airport takes almost another two hours.

The Westin

The lobby at the Westin is overrun with TCA'ers. It is like Old Home Week as I see people I have not seen since the April Eastern Division Meet in York and some not since the last Convention in San Antonio. I also get to see, once again, one of the things that make this such a great organization. People renewing old friendships, sharing photos of children and grandchildren or talking about that train that remain "the one that got away." Some are lined up awaiting the arrival of buses that will take them to one of the many excursions planned by the Rocky Mountain Division Convention Team.

Registration

Registration runs smoothly, a not unexpected event. I encounter Fred Claussen who volunteers to work Registration at every National Convention. Fred lives in Alabama but does not see distance from the site of the Convention as a barrier to volunteering.

I am pointing this out, not so much to honor Ferd, he really does deserve some sot of recognition in my opinion for this commitment, but to point out that there are opportunities to participate if one really wants to do that. The staff at the NBO is small for several reasons. One of them is because so many people in TCA are willing to donate some time to making the Association function. If someone wants to get involved I can provide a long list of names, telephone numbers and E-mail addresses.