National Model Railroad Association

North Central Region, Division 9

Thanksgiving is coming. Tis the season to think Model Railroad

The next meeting for Division 9 will be held on November 18, 2023. It will be held at the Colonial Kitchen Pancake House on North Drake in Kalamazoo. Doug Harding will be presenting another of his great presentations via Zoom. You won't want to miss this one. We will began gathering at 9:00 in the back room for breakfast.

Looking head, Divsion 9 will gather again on December 16th at the Colonial Kitchen Pancake House

October Meeting Recap

A small group of Division 9 members went on a tour of Grand Rapids, MI area "club" model railroad layouts on Saturday, October 28th.

The first layout was the Riverbend Club in Jenison, MI. Their HO layout models the Superior Northern Railroad in the upper peninsula of MI. Division 9 last toured this layout in 2019. WOW, have they come a long way with their work, landscaping and modeling!

The second layout toured was the Grand River Valley Club in Wyoming, MI. This club has both HO and N gauge layouts. They are at work building a new HO layout in their space at this time, so there was lots to see. Division 9 had not toured these layouts before.

The third layout toured was the S Guage Club in Wyoming, MI. This is a club that focuses their efforts and interests on S gauge trains and operations, but is also currently building a new small HO layout. Division 9 has not been to this club before.

The fourth layout toured was the HO layout of the Grand Rapids Model Railroad Society in Comstock Park, MI. This club is also known as the "Pere Marquette Railroad Club" because of their efforts to model the Pere Marquette Railroad as it crossed Michigan from Detroit to Chicago, but also with the branches going north to Traverse City and Petoskey and other cities along Lake Michigan. Construction of this layout started in 1995. This model railroad group also was the host for the 2012 National Model Railroad Association National Convention back in 2012. Division 9 has toured this layout before, but it is always nice to see their new work and modeling! Division 9 may need to join this group for an operating session in the future.

Remember the next meeting is on November 18th. Doug Harding's presentations are always worth seeing, and this time you won't have to travel to a national convention!"

Thank you NCR President Rich Mahaney for sharing your notes on the activities.