Volume 65 – Issue 10 October 1, 2025
From the Brass Hat
As I write this we are waiting to see if we will have some severe weather or if it will be nothing. Fingers crossed. I went back and looked at Chris’s Brass Hat article from last October, and I easily could do a repeat. Halloween decorating and rides are the focus of the month. That’s really all there is to say. As Chris stated last year, this is an all-hands-on deck event as the majority of our revenue for the year comes from the holiday events. Throughout the year we are very thankful for our regular volunteers that come out to staff the weekday trains, but we’d like to give folks a break, so if it’s been a while since you were able to join us, please consider coming out to volunteer. Even if it’s only one day, it would help a lot.
Look for Chris’s crew call to come out soon. In addition to the train crew, we always need help in the parking lot, the yard, G scale, and we can always use a few more characters at the Witches’ scene. Halloween is work, but it really is a lot of fun and after dark looks pretty cool as well. We have been very fortunate to get some expanded social media coverage lately. A local realtor, Marko Sun rode with us recently on August 28th . His post and drone shots of our museum and train were posted on various social media platforms had an amazing response. It definitely helped with ridership at our Thomas in the Garden event. We are very appreciative of this boost. It truly shows the power of the medium. Likely because of this exposure, we have experienced an increased number of visitors recently on non-ride days. If you happen to be at Bonsal and encounter some of these families, make them a repeat visitor by taking a couple minutes to explain what they are seeing. You will definitely get smiles in return.
We hope to have another social media influencer ride with us on the first Halloween ride day on October 11th . Speaking of promotions, it was said last year but is still true. If you have a Nextdoor account, take a minute to push our events in your neighborhood, at work on bulletin boards or simply talk it up with neighbors or coworkers that have kids. People where I work know I’m into trains and have asked me about the special Halloween rides. I always explain what they are and direct them to the web site. Special thanks to Juli and Velinda with their help on social media. Chris and Gina report they could still use some more help with the decorating during the week on non-Wednesdays when the regular crew is not on site. Send an email to find out what’s going on.
A shout out to Charles and the facilities crew for the shiny new roof on Car 101. This car has been finished in time for the holidays and is now back in the train. In other news, our bridge consultant will be coming down at the beginning of October for inspections and a detailed study. This helps us stay in compliance with the FRA and will also help with the work plan for any needed repairs.
And finally, a continued thanks to our MOW worker who has been installing much needed switch ties among other sections of track. Board of Directors Election ballots are at the end of this newsletter. Please vote according to the instructions listed on the ballot by 31 October.
That’s all for now, hope to see you in Bonsal this month!
-John
John Morck
President, NCRM
Get to Know a Member
by Tom Hutchinson
Name: Ray Albers
How long have you been a member? Since December 2006
Where are you originally from? Born in New Jersey, lived in New York State and Virginia before moving to North Carolina
What was your job in real life? I am retired now; was a telephone company engineering manager
Where do you live now (City & State only)? Bridgewater, VA
Family? Wife Susan and I have two sons, two grandsons and a granddaughter.
How did you become interested in trains? When I was a kid, a regular local train (steam!) went thru our town and I enjoyed watching it, and even riding it a few times.
How did you find about NHVR? Shortly after we moved to North Carolina, we were invited to join my son, daughter-in-law and three-year-old grandson on a Santa Train ride – and I was hooked!
What is your favorite activity at the New Hope Valley Railway? I’ve enjoyed everything from train rides to the camaraderie and workout of track maintenance, but my favorite by far was operating locomotives on ride days.
If you do not receive the operating crew calls, please contact the crew caller (Chris) if you are interested in participating in train operations! We need all the help we can get to keep the trains running safely. Chris will resume handling all crew calls for the remainder of 2025 (thanks John and Kevin!)
Welcome to Ariel Regnier, a new Witch trainee! Correction: In last month’s Welcome to our New Members, Gregory Haake family members are actually Mary Haake and Ann-Marie Warren. [We got the last names wrong, sorry! – ed]
NCRM Membership has its Benefits!
by Tom Hutchinson
As many of you renew your membership for 2026 later this year (or in the case of Lifetime Members, enjoy another year of membership), keep in mind that each membership level has certain benefits. All membership levels (Senior, Student, Adult, Family, Silver Meteor and Lifetime) have the benefit of free train rides for the member and one accompanying guest on a space-available basis for any regular season rides, excluding Hop into Spring, Halloween and Santa rides. Tickets for additional guests can be purchased at regular prices.
The Silver Meteor membership ($100) additionally includes the choice of EITHER one family four-pack of tickets to either the Halloween or Santa rides plus a cab visit before or after the ride, plus a behind the scenes look at the Garden Railway OR a one-year annual membership to the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS). If you are already an NRHS member, you should continue your separate NRHS membership; otherwise, the membership expiration dates would be out of synch.
Additionally, all current and future Lifetime Members get a 10% discount in the Gift Shop (just let Cindy know you are a lifetime member) and the choice of either one OAL or one family caboose ride on any ride (including special rides) at their option, if desired. The OAL or family caboose ride would have to be scheduled and may only be claimed once during the lifetime membership term. This is in addition to the benefits that a regular member receives.
All members of every category (and family members for Family memberships) are invited to attend the annual member banquet each January. Further information on the January 2026 annual banquet will be in a Telegrapher issue later this year as the banquet date approaches.
The member benefits are described in the Membership-Dues and Benefits Policy in our policy manual, which may be accessed under the “About Us” or “Membership” dropdown under the “About Us & History” section on our webpage.
Halloween Prep is NOW
by Chris Tilley
Decorating the main line is essentially over (see the photos below). We will now shift to decorating the yard and trains. We could certainly use some help! The hard part is over, but we still have all the spooky things in the yard to get installed. We generally arrive at the yard by 0900. We are usually done by midafternoon, depending on the task at hand. Anyone wishing to participate or having questions should email me (click here to email) at least a day prior so we don’t leave the yard before you get there if we have to go down the tracks.
Bring a lunch and drinks and dress for cool mornings followed by potentially hot days. For those who might help set up the yard, we can help get all the stuff out and provide a plan for each event in the yard prep. Many thanks to Wednesday Crew members who helped on Wednesdays with the really heavy lifting.
The weather did us dirty and put us behind schedule. The Wednesday crew made up a lot of that this week. Please help us get back on track if you can. We need weekday help to get it all set up with the attention to spooky details which have made us famous.
In case you were not aware, the Halloween trains and Santa trains have become huge local events which usually sell out. Roughly 70% of our annual ticket sales revenue come from these two events. Of course, we will need full crew for the trains since a number of regular crew are “Actors” in the live scenes along the tracks, so if you are available, please sign up.
2026 Operating Schedule Approved!
by Art Kotz
Just in time for our Halloween rides: I’m excited to announce our 2026 Schedule which has just been finalized. It was a developed through a collaborative effort that considered the multitude of suggestions we received from our members and the public. Please share and distribute it to the public so that they become aware of the exciting events we have planned for next year. You can also help our rides continue to be a success by volunteering as a crew member. [It’s too big to put in the newsletter, so watch your email for the Schedule in several user-friendly formats. – ed]
Christmas Boxes Needed
Everyone who has ridden our Santa trains remembers the brightly colored gift boxes in the nets above the seats on our excursion cars. We had to throw out a number of boxes last year and need to replace them. If you have items delivered in smaller boxes (shoe or shirt box size, but no safe or refrigerator boxes), please save some of them and wrap them in brightly colored paper prior to the “Saturday After Thanksgiving” decorating kickoff event. The more, the merrier!
Thomas and his Friends in the Garden was a SUCCESS!
by Juli Buker
On September 13 and 14, the Garden Railroad team welcomed guests to the annual Thomas and His Friends in the Garden event. Children lined the fence with excitement, clutching their “I Spy” game sheets and stickers while watching their favorite trains race around the tracks. The following Thomas-themed locos ran, pulling appropriate consists: Thomas, Percy, James, Toby, Emily and Paxton. (Photos below courtesy of Evan Chiu)
As always, Sir Topham Hatt was there to greet visitors and even joined a Facebook Live session to share the fun with our online audience. This year’s newest attraction—a hands-on “Operate Thomas” exhibit—was a big hit, giving kids the chance to control Thomas and Cranky themselves.
Special thanks to Randy Evers for designing a clever, easy-to-assemble layout support, and to Tom Hutchinson for helping the children run the trains.
THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE & FRIENDS is a trademark of BRITT ALLCROFT LIMITED
Last Run, Vicki Mills
We announce with great sadness the passing of our long-time member Vicki Mills. Vicki was the manager of our gift shop for many years and also assisted with preparing and serving countless meals for the crew. Vicki was the wife of our locomotive engineer Joe Mills for over 34 years and raised fancy show poodles for years. She was 65 years old. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Please keep Joe in your thoughts and prayers.
Qualified Charitable Distributions – Passed on by Dick Horn
This option is limited to those individuals 70-1/2 years or older (the NCRM has at least one person fitting that description) owning a traditional IRA. Using a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is a tax-efficient way to donate money to any 501c(3) Non-Profit. The IRA owner can donate a portion (or all) of their RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) as a QCD direct from their IRA Custodian to the Non-Profit without paying the income tax on the amount donated. Annual limits are $108K per IRA owner or $216K for married couples. The 31 December transaction deadline is the same as the RMD. Anyone wishing to do this should use code Y on 2025 IRS Form 1099-R AND contact Robert Middour in advance so he will know from whom the donation originated. Some IRA companies don’t include donor info. Please contact your tax advisor to verify all the above details.
Grants Received!
We are pleased to announce that the NCRM has been awarded two grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) totaling over $280K for two museum projects – “Locomotion” and “Voices from a Golden Age”. Funds will be distributed over the next three years. Many thanks to our Jim Jatko for his detailed preparation of the grant requests. See Jim for more exciting details!
Around the Yard (and Down the Line – Halloween Style)
