February 2010 - the 4th Division • PNR • NMRA

Issue 517 • February 2010 Page 5
learn how to maneuver an engine and one car from one track to another. There are three starting points and two destinations, a good
variety of switches, and one needs to do a series of maneuvers to switch from one destination to the other.
I am a newer member of the Bremerton Northern HO Model Railroading Club and had no experience with this module or such maneuvers,
so it was also a great learning experience for me! I not only appreciated learning a new task, but learning it while helping others.
I was told that one “couldn’t” derail the engine on this module, but the young people did. One ran the train down the dead end track. (I
was able to stop it before it fell off the table.) Others tried to throw a switch while the engine was too close to it, derailing the loco. Some
tried to run too fast. But mostly, it was a pleasure to see them learn and successfully move the train to all destinations with little or no
errors. There was also a place in the rails, with some expertise and practice, where the car could be disconnected magnetically from the
engine. One adult visitor was able to very easily maneuver the train, but then confessed that he worked for BNSF.
The NMRA and the Howell Day Museum
Jack Hamilton
I received this response from NMRA President Mike Brestel regarding the confusion and concern over the recent article in Model
Railroading magazine about the NMRA and the Howell Day Museum. I thought everyone would benefit from reading it.
Relationship of NMRA and the Howell Day Museum
The Howell Day Museum has been funded from the beginning with no, as in zero, member dues dollars or NMRA general funds.
This was a commitment we made when the museum was set up, and we have honored that commitment without exception. The Museum
has been funded through donations and the sale of surplus equipment donations as well as limited edition, custom decorated cars.
The items in the CSRM gallery exhibit do not become the property of the CSRM, they remain the property of the Howell Day Museum.
So we give them nothing, while they give us free space in which to promote the hobby (and incidentally the NMRA) to the
600,000 visitors who pass through the CSRM each year.
The $500K or more that it will cost to build the display will come from donations, grants, etc. Not one dime of member dues or
NMRA money will be used to fund the exhibit. If the money cannot be raised, then the exhibit will not be built and the HDM withdraws
from the agreement, owing the CSRM nothing.
While the HDM has long been a committee of the NMTA BOD (BOT), it has always been the plan that at the appropriate time the
Museum would form its own corporation with its own board. Work is nearly complete on the separate incorporation of the Howell Day
Museum, and soon the Museum will become a separate, but affiliated, non-profit corporation (incorporated in CA, rather than in OH, as
is the NMRA). At that time the NMRA, which has for many years has held the Museum’s funds in a restricted account, will turn over
those funds to the new corporation.
The CSRM site was selected after an exhaustive search by the Museum Committee. No other site in the U.S. that could boast of a
facility of similar high quality offered comparable space or attendance. From the beginning of the search, the CSRM staff has been enthusiastic
and helpful, and their generosity was unmatched by other possible venues. With air travel, northern California is far easier and
cheaper for most of the country to reach than is, say, Chattanooga, so the CSRM’s location on the West Coast is not a serious handicap.
The Library is not part of the Museum deal. We approached the CSRM with the idea of a merger with their library, with NMRA
members not only retaining access to the current collection, but also enjoying the benefits of access to the CSRM Library’s world-class
collection and facilities, with a collection about ten times the size of the NMRA’s. At this date, we have not begun any discussions with
the CSRM Library, and we have no idea when or even if this merger will occur.
The NMRA is giving away nothing and risking nothing in this agreement. At this time we don’t know what we will receive in return,
but I believe that this arrangement with the CSRM affords us an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate the hobby, its history, and its
pioneers over the past 75 years. While we’re at it, we can introduce scale model railroading and the NMRA to hundreds of thousands of
people each year.
In our first 75 years, no better chance has arisen to tell our story to millions of people interested in railroads. So I ask you: If not the
NMRA, then who? If not now, then when? If not at the CSRM, then where?
Northwest Railway Museum’s Bi-Annual Benefit March 5 th
Sue VanGerpen
This spring, the Northwest Railway Museum’s bi-annual benefit promises to be a culture and history-filled evening, featuring a delicious
dinner, prize-winning author, and local entertainment. You are cordially invited to join us for Working on the Railroad, Friday, March
5, 2010 at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, 36005 SE Ridge St, Snoqualmie, WA.
Featuring excerpts from the Museum’s newest exhibit, Wellington Remembered, the tickets-only event includes a no-host bar, hors d’ oeuvres
and dinner. Jim Kelly, Executive Director of 4Culture and a leader in the arts and historic preservation field, has graciously consented
to emcee the evening’s line-up of activities. A musical interlude will be provided by the Issaquah Singers, who have prepared a songbook
of railroad-themed music. A brief auction of selected big ticket items will precede the feature presentation of the evening.
Gary Krist will present a slide show and conversation about his book The White Cascade. A skilled storyteller, Krist is able to spellbind
the reader, all the while informing with fact and painting with details. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased at the Snoqualmie Depot or
by phone at 425-888-3030, x202.