Volume 65 – Issue 9 September 1, 2025
From the Brass Hat
We all spend a lot of time down at the museum and the railroad. Some spend a good portion of their free time here. The reasons vary; love of railroads, history, just working on old stuff, or camaraderie. It is a family, and like families, sometimes we argue and disagree about how something should be done but, we all love NCRM and the railroad or we would not be here. Even though we have all types of personalities we also care about each other. This fact was recently brought home to me with the well wishes I personally received while dealing with a serious family health issue. I am definitely not alone as I have witnessed the care shown for others going through various type of health issues either their own, or their families. It is so easy to take things for granted and yet it is so important to focus on what really is important, which is people, whether our friends, fellow volunteers or our customers who support us. Something to think about when yet one more thing breaks, or we get “Bonsaled” while trying to finish a job or project.
Speaking of projects, as we reach the end of summer and our schedule starts to ramp up, Holiday season will be here soon. It will not be long before calls will go out for Halloween decorating help, see Gina or Chris for details. [see below – ed.] You may see some new “critters” around the railyard and out on the line. They are part of a new “I spy” game Velinda and Juli are trying out for our younger visitors. It’s all part of trying to find new ways to make thing interesting for our customers. If you have ideas of new things we can try, reach out to Velinda and Juli.
Fall also means board elections. While it seems like we just had an election, this time it’s the regular 3 board seats that come up every fall. Kevin Edwards has agreed to be election chairman this year and is now soliciting candidates who wish to run. Look for ballots to come out later in September and in the October edition of the Telegrapher. Any member of the NC Railway Museum who is at least twenty-one (21) years of age and having been a Member of the Corporation for not less than two (2) years, is eligible to serve on the Board of Directors. If you are interested in running, please submit a SHORT bio to Kevin by clicking here –– NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 22, 2025.
Finally, a few thank-you’ s are in order. To Charles Stirewalt and the facilities team for completing the roof on Car 101 in time for the holiday rides. Scott Smith, Harold and others for moving the container that will house the items from Tim Carroll’s estate and our “track worker” for all of the tie installations and Roger Koss and Joe Mills for retrieving the new switch ties from Carthage and saving the museum the shipping costs. The yard continues to get cleaned up as well with help from the Steam Crew. I apologize if I missed anyone. We are a busy group with improvements from G-scale to the yard. I am always happy to use this space to highlight a project or person. Just shoot me an email. Cooler weather is finally coming; I hope to see everyone out at the railroad.
-John
John Morck President, NCRM
Get to Know a Member
by Tom Hutchinson
Name: Rob Grau
How long have you been a member? Since January 2013
Where are you originally from? Brecksville, Ohio (between Cleveland and Akron)
What is your job in real life? I am retired now, but was a systems analyst, computer programmer, and even a facility manager.
Where do you live now? Raleigh, NC
Family? Spouse, Cindy, (who y’all know), two kids, and four grandkids.
How did you become interested in trains? I grew up loving trains. My first train ride was at 6 years old (B&O steam), and got my Lionel train when 7 years old.
How did you find about NHVR? Cindy and I went to the State Fair after retiring in 2012 and talked with Robert Middour – applied for membership in November, 2012, and my membership was approved in January 2013 (back then, the Board had to approve all new members)
What is your favorite activity at the New Hope Valley Railway? My favorite activity is programming, i.e., financial spreadsheets for the museum (I am currently Treasurer), with being a locomotive engineer a close second.
If you do not receive the operating crew calls, please email the crew caller by clicking here if you are interested in participating in train operations! We need all the help we can get to keep the trains running safely.
Rusty Spike Nominations Needed from Members by September 30
Each year, the New Hope Valley Railway awards the Order of the Rusty Spike to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to our museum. Pursuant to a policy adopted by our Board in 2022, ANY member may nominate an individual for a Rusty Spike. A majority of the Board will then determine by secret ballot who among the nominees should receive the award each year, with a maximum of three Rusty Spikes to be awarded each year. Nominations are due by September 30.
To nominate someone for a Rusty Spike, a member needs to prepare a paragraph or two listing the reasons why the nominated individual is deserving of the award and email the nomination to the Chair of the Membership Committee, Tom Hutchinson, (or nominations may be placed in an envelope in the Membership Committee mailbox in the dispatcher’s office). If a member wants to nominate someone for a Rusty Spike, but needs help in preparing the written nomination, they may contact a member of the Membership Committee (Tom Hutchinson, Robert Middour or Luke Sullivan) to provide assistance.
The Membership Committee will accumulate all of the nominations received by September 30 and present them to the Board for vote by December 1. Per Boardapproved policy, consideration for a Rusty Spike is normally given to individuals who have been members at least three years, but this requirement may be waived by the Board in exceptional circumstances. Nominations made will be kept confidential and only the Chair of the Membership Committee will know which nominee(s) have received a majority of the Board’s vote until the Rusty Spike is awarded at the annual Membership meeting. Any questions concerning this process should be directed to Tom Hutchinson.
Announcing Craftsman’s Showcase
Passed on by Tom Hutchinson
The Neuse River Valley Model Railroad Club (NRV) and NMRA Carolina Piedmont Division 13 (CPD13) are sponsoring a Craftsman’s Showcase at the NRV Fall Train Show in Raleigh, North Carolina. The NRV Fall Train Show is reported to be the third largest train show on the East Coast. It is held in the 100,000 square Jim Graham Building on the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. There will be multiple layouts on display and 480+ vendor tables. Show hours are 9 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, November 8th and 10 AM to 4 PM on Sunday, November 9th .
The goal of Craftsman’s Showcase is to build enthusiasm for the model railroad hobby by encouraging people of all skill levels to show off what they have created. Bring your structures, engines, rolling stock or dioramas, whether built from kits, scratch built or kit-bashed from some existing products, to show off your modeling skills in a variety of categories in a judged contest. Contest categories are anticipated to include locomotives, rolling stock, structures, dioramas, and “Anything But”. The “Anything But” category includes any structure kit in any scale that has been repurposed into anything but the original structure.
Judges, including Master Model Railroaders (MMRs) from CPD 13, will evaluate the entries and determine 1st Place and Honorable Mention awards in each category. A “Best of Show” prize will also be awarded.
Models should be entered at the show’s Craftsman’s Showcase display by 9:30 AM on Saturday morning. Judging will occur on Saturday afternoon. Awards will be presented at 1p.m. on Sunday, and models should be picked up at 2p.m. on Sunday. Please note that security is provided 24 hours/day through the NC State Fairgrounds.
This is a great way to display and enhance your craftsmanship skills. Contact the NRV Club for more information by clicking here, or Bob Witwer or Randy Foulke.
Welcome to our New Members: Blake Sandoval, Noel Schroeder, Kevin Kiehl, Alan Gruis and Gregory Haake with his family members Mary and Ann-Marie. Please make them feel at home!
More Info: NC State Fair Approaching
by Tom Hutchinson
Each year, we set up and operate a simple two-loop garden railway at the Horticulture Area of the NC State Fair. We talk to thousands of visitors in this tenday period, and this is a key activity to market our Halloween and Christmas rides.
To operate, we have 42 volunteer slots of 5.5 hours in duration…21 time slots with two volunteers per slot. Many of our garden railway volunteers are at the State Fair in addition to staffing our Halloween ride days. Some take several shifts at the Fair, plus shifts for Halloween rides, plus setting up and taking down the Fair layout, plus helping to decorate for Halloween at Bonsal.
We have a contract with the State Fair to operate the railway; in return the State Fair gives the museum $500. It would help greatly if some of you (and some of you already have) could volunteer for a shift at the Fair. I will try to place you with an experienced garden railway volunteer, so your primary task will be to interact with the public to tell them about our museum and our holiday rides. The spreadsheet below shows the current status of our volunteer schedule, with currently empty slots highlighted in yellow. I have to finalize this by the end of this month/first week of September.
Please let me know if you could volunteer for a slot (or if there is a slot you can volunteer for that is already “taken”, perhaps we could do a switch).
NCRM Member Recognition
As an all-volunteer organization, the North Carolina Railway Museum’s greatest asset is its member/volunteers. To recognize individuals whose long-term volunteerism has contributed greatly to our success, two framed signs have been placed in the bulletin board adjacent to the Dispatcher’s Office. One lists members with 25 years or more of service. The other lists members who have received the Order of the Rusty Spike since its inception. At the Annual Membership meeting each January, new members joining the “Quarter Century Club” in the past year will be recognized in addition to any members newly receiving the Rusty Spike. Soon after the Annual Meeting, the signs will be updated to reflect the newest honorees.
The names on each recognition sign have been gathered from our membership records. If any member notices any errors or omissions, please contact Tom Hutchinson by clicking here and corrections will be made when the signs are updated after the January 2026 Annual Meeting. Also, if any member recognized would like to be listed differently (nickname, given name, title, Sr/Jr, etc.) also let Tom know.
The Bearded Villains seen at Bonsal Yard
We recently discovered a security camera photo of the infamous Bearded Villains group at Bonsal Yard. Actually, they were there to honor one of their fellow members, our late Museum Director Tim Carroll. The group raised over $1000.00 which they contributed to the Goldston Depot renovation project as a memorial to Tim. Yes, the photo was actually posed… They are a great bunch of guys.
Halloween Prep is Nearly Upon Us
by Chris Tilley
As mentioned in John’s excellent Brass Hat article, it is time to schedule participation in the Halloween train decoration campaign. We set aside three weeks to get everything emplaced and tested prior to the first train just in case we are working alone. We have developed a pretty good system over the past 15 years, but our manpower has dwindled, not to mention that we are 15 years older than we were when we took over the haunting duties. The schedule below is designed to allow any volunteers to select a day or days they would like to come help.
We generally arrive at the yard by 0900 and load up whatever we are doing that day. We are usually done by mid-afternoon, depending on the task at hand. Anyone wishing to participate or having questions should email me at least a day prior so we don’t leave the yard before you get there. Bring a lunch and drinks and dress for cool mornings followed by climbing around on the hillsides alongside the tracks. For those who might prefer to help set up the yard, we can help get all the stuff out and provide a plan for each event in the yard prep.
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, but we need help to get it all set up with the attention to spooky details which have made us famous.
Calling ALL Witches (and witch wannabe’s)
by Gina Casselberry
The Witches’ Path is one of our most beloved scenes along the tracks during Halloween. We need some live humans to come play the part of the witches, stirring the cauldron, cackling and generally creating a spooky atmosphere by the tracks. It is a long day, but lots of fun.
Food, drink and a train ride to the Witches’ Path are provided, but bring your own costume. Flying is restricted to current NCRM members due to insurance regulations. Flying lessons are available to those wishing to get their wings (or broom). We need to train some younger witches (and a replacement for the poor old man who gets captured during each train ride for the witches’ entertainment) to carry on our spooky traditions. Sometimes it’s warm, sometimes cool. Email Gina by clicking here if you might be interested in serving in this important capacity.
Christmas Boxes Needed
Everyone who has ridden our Santa trains remembers the brightly colored 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 refrigerator boxes), please save some of them and wrap them in brightly colored paper prior to the “Day After Thanksgiving” decorating kickoff event. The more, the merrier!
