Semaphore Header
October 2009, Volume 39 No. 2, Page 3

Events for Modelers

Day Out With Thomas™

Oct. 2-4 at the NC Transportation Museum, featuring Bob the Builder™ in a live Can-Do Crew stage show, begins each day at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. – even on Sunday.

Day Out With Thomas™ offers an opportunity for children and their grownups to take a 25-minute ride with Thomas the Tank Engine™ and pose for a picture with Sir Topham Hatt™, the Superintendent of the Railroad. Every event includes Thomas & Friends™ storytelling, a viewing station for Thomas & Friends videos, temporary tattoos, and an Imagination Station.

A special guest will also pay a visit to the Day Out With Thomas event, as everyone’s favorite builder, Bob the Builder™, stops by to help his friend. In a 20-minute performance, Bob the Builder will ask for the help of aspiring Can-Do Crew members in building a great project. Bob the Builder shows will take place four times per day at 10 a.m., Noon, 2 and 4 p.m. About 30 minutes after each show, Bob will be available for pictures.

The activities on site at Day Out With Thomas™ are for you and your children to enjoy for several hours or more. Your ticket defines a specific Thomas train ride time; however, Bob the Builder stage shows will take place at 10 a.m., Noon, 2, and 4 p.m. and do not have assigned seating, so you may enjoy one or more performances if you choose. Please plan your day accordingly so that you arrive at least one hour before your scheduled train departure, and also allow enough time to attend one of the Bob the Builder shows.

Railroad Photo Exhibit at the Presbyterian Heritage Center, Montreat, NC

The Presbyterian Heritage Center at Montreat has an exhibit displaying rare photos from the Dickey and Campbell Railroad, later the Perley & Crockett (and still later the Mt. Mitchell Railroad) which ran from Black Mountain through Montreat to Mt. Mitchell.

This is a unique and valuable collection from which I have drawn source material for several of my models. The exhibit runs through October 31st for times please or directions check their website.

LOST RR Showings

Our modular layout will be at (if you can help contact Fred Coleman):

Farm City Days, October 3rd, 10 AM—4PM, (weather permitting), Jackson Park, Hendersonville, NC
Fall! By the Tracks, October 17, 10 AM—4PM, The Old Depot, Black Mountain, NC

Rail Ops 2009

Carolina Southern Division, MER, NMRA hosting Rail Ops 2009 on October 9th thru 11th. For more details (click here).

Narrow Trak 09

Friday, October 9, 2009 2 PM to 9:30 PM

Saturday, October 10, 2009, 8:30 AM to 9:30 PM

At the Transylvania County Recreation Center, 1078 Ecusta Road
(behind Pisgah Forest Elementary School), Brevard, NC 28712-7581
Frank Pearsall will host the Narrow Trak 09 Convention on 9 and 10 October. Narrow Trak 09 is the annual gathering of hard-core narrow gauge and logging model railroaders for two days of friendship and knowledge building. The modeling and prototype seminars will provide information you can use. They are scheduled so that you can attend all the seminars with plenty of time between each one.

Some of our seminar presenters will include Gordon Fewster on the Cass Scenic Railroad; Johnny Greybeal on the ET&WNC; Noll Horan on sawdust scenery; Jerry Ledfordon N.C. logging; Mac McDonald on Eastern N.C. Logging & Lumbering; Mark Nickelson on 1/48 scale airplanes; Joe Norris on incline plains and Tom Yorke on Painting, Staining and Weathering.

The Saturday night bureaucracy announcements and awards ceremony is less than 10 minutes long! Then, the final highlight of every Narrow Trak convention is the Saturday night bluegrass music by Roy Chapman and his "True Bluegrass band." If you're never heard bluegrass, you'll love this original American music. Roy and his group play in the finest Bill Monroe tradition.

Modules and Contest: We welcome narrow gauge completed dioramas and modules. The popular-vote model contest consists of five categories: motive power, rolling stock, structure, diorama and the coveted Beloved Founder Award.

For more details (click here).

Autumn Rails

The French Broad e’N’pire NTRAK Club will have an open house and train show in October10th at the Whitmire Activity Center, Lily Pond Lane, Hendersonville, NC. Admission is $5.00, FREE for scouts in uniform or kids under 13, which features our operating NTRAK layout, model train and railroadiana dealers, and door prizes. For more info go to Autumn Rails webpage, or please contact Chuck Place.

Laying Rails in Bristol

The Norfolk & Western and Southern Railway Historical Societies are sponsoring a joint gathering in Bristol, Va. on October 16 and 17. Go to the Laying Rail in Bristol website for more information.

7th Annual Piedmont Pilgrimage

Piedmont Division of SER hosts their 7th Annual Piedmont Pilgrimage a tour of Atlanta's Great Model Railroads , starting October 24th ending November 28th, 2009. For a complete schedule check out their website.