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The mission of the Amherst Railway Society is education regarding and the promotion of hobbies related to
Railroading.
Amherst Railway Society
P. O. Box 2351
Amherst, MA 01004-2351
www.AmherstRail.org
The next meeting of the Amherst Railway Society will be 7:30 pm EDT Tuesday, March 15, 2016, at the
Amherst Regional Middle School Auditorium.
Meetings are canceled if Amherst Regional Schools are canceled, if meetings are canceled, the notice will be
posted at www.cbs3springfield.com and at www.nbcConnecticut.com
“Turning Photographs into Model Railroad
Backdrops” by Dave Burgess Dave Burgess needed backdrops for his HO scale Whip
City Railroad. What he found in the retail market was
either poor quality, or priced too high. So he decided to
make his own. When friends saw Dave’s backdrops, they
asked for backdrops for their own railroads - and in 2011
a new business came to life.
Today, Backdrop Junction has three large format printers
and 300 images that can be sized and scaled to fit most
model railroads. There is also a line of graphics
specifically for modular modelers. On March 15, Dave
will demonstrate how to generate a backdrop from the
initial photo all the way through to the stitching process.
He will also show how multiple scenes can be blended
into one.
Dave and is family live in Westfield, MA, He is a full time airline pilot, and an HO scale modeler. .His Whip
City Railroad is based loosely on the Pioneer Valley Railroad..
From the Treasurer
All donations to the Amherst Railway Society may be tax deductible. As Amherst Railway Society
Inc. is a 501 C(3) tax exempt organization, your donations (of either cash and/or property) may be deducted on
your Schedule A, Form 1040 of your Federal income tax. Consider the Amherst Railway Society in your
estate planning. Your gifts can be restricted or non-restricted (you can pre-determine how you want your
donation used). Upon request, and proper documentation of course, the Treasurer will issue you a letter to be
used as justification for your tax deductions
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Message from the President:
Thank you to everyone that worked so hard to make this
year’s show such a success. With a ticketed attendance of nearly
20,000 people, the total attendance for the show was over the 20,000
mark. While the anniversary of last year’s show had weather that
was similar to last year, we had beautiful weather, and many
vendors reporting record sales.
We had already had the first meeting to discuss plans for
next year’s show, so we are already in process.
This spring’s Board of Director’s meetings include the
discussions of budgets. Chairs of Budget departments need to have
their budgets to David Royce, Treasurer, in April to give him time to
review the requests and compare the numbers with the expected
income.
Also this spring we will be announcing the plan for this
year’s version of what has been the Silent Auction/Swap Meet.
Nothing is firm at this time, so “Stay Tuned”. Last year’s Swap
Meet was a major reason that we did not have to make deeper cuts
into the 2016 grants.
Later this month the Board of Directors will appoint the
2016 Nominating Committee. At the May meeting, the Committee
will present their nominations for Secretary, and one At-Large
member of the Board of Directors. Because of the changes to the
By-Laws that passed last year, the other officers and directors are
mid-term.
You may notice that there isn’t a Show Director’s message
in this newsletter. Our Show Director is taking some needed down
time. I’m sure there will be additional information, regarding details
of this year’s show, in his next message. In the meantime, if you
have any suggestions for improvements to the show, please be sure
to let John know, or you can contact any of the officers (see the list
on the left) with your ideas.
Bruce MacCullagh, President 2014-2016
Board of Director’s meetings
Wed March 23, 2016 = election of nominating committee
Wed April 27, 2016 – proposed business for annual mtg.
Wed May 18, 2016 - budget meeting meeting Dates Speaker - Topic Newsletter Deadline
April 19, 2015 Tony Koester,- multi-deck layout design and construction, layout lighting, kit-bashing
vs. scratch-building structures, modeling Granger country, as well as timetable and train-
order operation.
April 1. 2016
May 17, 2015 Randy Leclair – Restoration Manager Seashore Trolley Museum May 1, 2016
June 21, 2015 Harvey Allen – student member of the railroad group that became the Amherst Railway
Society. In addition to speaking at the Oct 1963 meeting of the ARS, in June 1964 he
was elected as the first President of the Amherst Railway Society
June 3, 2016
Board of Directors 2015-2016
President – Bruce MacCullagh
Pres Elect – John Sacerdote
Treasurer – David Royce
Secretary – Bill Meier Jr.
At Large (also on show committee)
Kurt Jellinek - 2016
Rudy Versailles - 2017
Clark Huber - 2018.
Show Committee
Chair - Dick Joyce - 2017
Tom Laware Jr. - 2016
Brian O’Leary - 2016
Tom Laware Sr. - 2018
3 at large members of BOD
President
Treasurer
ex-officio -Show Director – John Sacerdote
Strategic Planning Committee
(Develop Strategic Plan, 1 and 5 year goals)
Co chairs Ken Harstine and Kurt Jellinek
Tom Laware Sr.
Dick Joyce
John Randall
Joe Albano
John Sacerdote -exofficio
David Royce – exofficio
Bill Meier Jr. exofficio
Clark Huber - exofficio
Membership
(Marketing, Trip Committee,
Member retention etc)
Joe LePage
Joe Kurland
Joe Albano Jr.
Greg Maas
Tom Laware Sr.
Ted Curtin
Bill Meier Jr.
Prototype Meet
David Owens – Chair
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Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Modeling Clinics – January 26-27, 2016
Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show – West Springfield, MA January 28-29, 2016
MEMBERSHIP DUES:
Check your mailing label, or membership card to see if the year says “2016” If it does, your
membership expired at the end of this past June. Memberships expire on June 30 of the year
listed. Student memberships require an update of year and expected
graduation. Regular adult memberships are $28 for one year, $70 for
three years, or $112 for five years. The five year membership renewal
is equal to one free year.
A Railroader’s Story The Rev. Arvie Maynard is a retired Presbyterian minister, who worked for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad
when he was in high school. He continued working for the railroad in various positions until he started
seminary. In 1995, he wrote a series of emails, about his railroading career. He has given permission for
them to be reprinted here. (Previous chapters: Apprentice Machinist, Freight House Trucker)
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Amherst Railway Society Newsletter March 2016
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Amherst Railway Society Newsletter March 2016
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Next time: Division Engineer – Pittsburgh PA