From our neighboring club the Little Rhody Division (NMRA) Welcome to R H O D E R A I L In this edition of our monthly newsletter: November Meeting RWPBC Christmas Display Setup New England Model Train Expo December Holiday Event 2026 NER Convention Planning & Volunteering The “Button”. Convention News 2025 and 2026. Hands-On Clinics White Elephant Table. T-Trak One Foot Module. LRD Shirts are now available online. Little Rhody Sunshine Fund NOVEMBER EVENT LITTLE RHODY DIVISION NOVEMBER MEETING DATE: NOVEMBER 1, 2025 LOCATION: United Methodist Church, 1558 South County Trail, East Greenwich, RI 02818 TIME: 9:30 AM FOR COFFEE AND 10 AM MEETING We will begin with coffee and donuts accompanied by socializing at 9:30AM, followed by information sharing and a business meeting beginning at about 10:00AM. We plan to wrap up by Noon. Spouses and guests are always welcome. Hope to see you all at the November meeting. The November meeting of LRD will be devoted to making additional white paper structures for the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center train layout/displays. We will also give last year's white paper buildings a good look-over to see if anything needs to be done to them as well. A usual. all are invited to meet at Gregg’s NK for lunch after the meeting. We will need critical help in building necessary scenery for the Christmas Display and planning installation. PUTTING TOGETHER WHITE BUILDINGS REFURBISHING LAST YEAR’S WHITE BUILDINGS Interesting Train Stuff Read about the newest thing in the world of N-scale T-Trak: “Hexagonal Shapes.” RWPBC Christmas Display Setup: Set-up for the Botanical Center most likely will be held on the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week (Nov 24 & 25). New England Model Train Expo December 6th and 7th, 2025 Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center, Marlborough, MA Saturday 10am-4pm, Sunday 10am-4pm December Holiday Event The December 13th meeting will be our Holiday event - Pot Luck lunch, Santa Swap, and a brief power point overview of the year we are wrapping up. Sign up list will come out in late November or early December for lunch offerings. We will adjourn to Providence Northern for their Open House following our luncheon. 2026 NER Convention Planning & Volunteering Planning for the 2026 NER Convention, Eyes on the NER, is coming along nicely with several layouts in place for both touring and operations. Clinics are beginning to take shape with several clinics being hands-on and not just lectures or power point presentations. Some clinics will be in two parts - one part starting at the NERx in the spring, and continuing at the fall convention or beginning at the 2026 convention next fall and continuing at the Green Mountain convention in the spring of 2027. There will be a small train show with four or five vendors and possibly a White Elephant table as well as talk of Learning Tables where participants would be able to practice techniques learned during the clinics. Volunteers Needed. The 2026 convention, being hosted by three divisions - Little Rhody, Nutmeg, and Hub - benefits all three divisions. Thus, volunteers are needed to help out throughout the convention. The convention site is only about an hour from Providence, so distance should not be an issue. While volunteers (and committee members) need to pay the registration and hotel fees, a volunteer needs only give up a small amount of time to make a difference. There will still be plenty of time to attend clinics, go on trips, etc., to gain the perks of being at a regional convention. If you are interested in helping out, contact Superintendent Sue Osberg (superintendent@littlerhodydiv.org) or Steve Erickson (sperickson@gmail.com). THE BUTTON A Little Rhody task force completed the 3rd iteration of the magic button for the Christmas Layout. The work party included Ken Morse, Ed Lamagna, and Linda Bergemann Last year the 2nd addition performed pretty well, but our goal is problem free operation in the extreme conditions we encounter at the Garden. (attached are photos of the guts of the button) We will have the Button on display at the November meeting. CONVENTION NEWS NOTES FROM THE 2025 NER CONVENTION Five intrepid LRD members ventured beyond the borders of Rhode Island the third weekend in September to take in the sights and sounds of that mysterious northern land known as New Hampshire. We assembled in Concord for this year’s regional convention, the Yankee Flyer, hosted by the Seacoast Division. A great time was had by all. Rich Sisson was attending his first convention and took advantage of every operating opportunity he could find. Mike Tylick did his usual brace of clinics, and the rest of us just had fun. There were several make and take clinics involving construction of rollingstock and structures; as well as mini-clinics on Thursday that demonstrated techniques as varied as paper buildings and how to solder your own hand rails using wire for a more prototypical look. The day trip to Conway Scenic Railroad was also a hit, including not only a train ride to Crawford Notch but a stop to check out restoration efforts on the Boston and Maine’s iconic Flying Yankee (sometimes called the Minuteman and the Mountaineer). Our crew reaped the rewards of investing in the raffle as well. (Well, some of us did). Meals were excellent all around, and the hotel was an ideal location. We are all looking forward to next year, when the LRD will be co-hosting next year’s convention in Southborough, MA. Let’s all pitch in to make sure we can match the high standards set by Seacoast! COMING SOON - The 2026 NER CONVENTION The 2026 Northeastern Convention will be held just over a year from now on October 15-18, 2026, at the Wellsworth Hotel in Southbridge, MA. This convention will be jointly hosted by the Little Rhody, HUB, and Nutmeg divisions. The Wellsworth Hotel is the original home of American Optical Company and the new logo “Eyes on the NER” and banner reflect that heritage For distance, it is about an hour from Providence, 15 minutes from Sturbridge Village and not far from major highways. The committee, locally chaired by Pete Watson of HUB (by popular demand) is well staffed by folks from all three divisions and already has a list of potential layouts to visit, places to visit in the area and clinics are beginning to come together. We are hoping to make this convention more interactive than prior conventions with two primary themes: Photography(Railfan, Drone, and Model) and Technology, including 3D design, photo editing,3D printing, DCC and LCC, and others. The rates for the convention are reasonable with room rates for Thursday night at $129, Friday and Saturday nights at $169 (average about $155). We hope many of you will help to make this convention at least as successful as this year’s convention. Looking forward to seeing you there. Sue Osberg, Superintendent OTHER TOPICS HANDS ON CLINICS This year, Little Rhody would to make their regular meetings more interactive and hands-on. As a result, we’ve come up with a list of possible clinic ideas and we are looking for LRD members who would be willing to present a hands-on clinic on one of the topics. If you are interested and willing to volunteer, please let me know (superintendent@littlerhodydiv.org) so we can schedule the time for the clinic. CLINIC IDEAS Paper Buildings (using the cardstock and paper system I showed a few years ago) Stone Walls and Fences (stone walls, wood fences, various types of barriers) Figure Painting (any scale or wargame figures --might attract a larger audience) Working with hydrocal (Making and painting scenery) Rock molds (making and using them) Detail a freight car (replacing grab irons) Small craftsman building (FOS, Bar Mills, etc. also: Perplexing Puzzles https://p3nh.com/ Adding signs to walls (Hybrid: slide deck on how to find signs, applying signs to walls) How to shingle (beyond tar paper) Build a T-Trak module (small group project?) Painting track Making trees (Tom?) Backdrop scenery (basics, working with acrylic paint) Wiring a small circuit (interior lighting) Ground cover with static grass and traditional materials Simple Bridge (walking bridge over a creek?) WHITE ELEPHANT TABLE It’s back! Beginning with the September meeting, we will once again host the White Elephant Table for Little Rhody meetings. If you have something related to model railroading for you would like to sell, please bring it to the next LRD meeting for sale at the White Elephant table. There will be price stickers for you to use and please add your name to the item. You will be responsible for the items you bring and for the selling of them. You are also responsible to pick up any unsold items that remain unsold at the end of the meeting. A 10% donation to LRD would be appreciated. If you have any questions, please chat with Superintendent Sue Osberg at the meeting or email her at superintendent@littlerhodydiv.org. T-Trak One Foot Module (by Steve Erickson) Would you like to be a part of the Rhode Island and Old Colony N scale T-Trak layout that we display at the library? It’s easier than you think! A simple one foot module only requires a few hours to assemble and requires only a few pieces of Kato Unitrak. Interested? Check out above what is scheduled for October Little Rhody Apparel The link to Daylight Sales is up and working on the LRD website. Go to the webpage and scroll all the way down. There will be a photo and a link (“click here…”) under Club Gear. This will bring you to the LRD page of clothing at Daylight Sales. Choose the item(s) you wish and order directly from Daylight Sales. The shirts are close to LRD blue, the hats are navy and the aprons are black. If there is something you would like but don’t see, contact me and I will see what I can do. The company is Veteran run and does work for several divisions in the NER and for the NER itself. Little Rhody Sunshine “Fund” No, we are not looking for your money- we’re looking to spread a little joy. A few weeks ago I received a “get well” card and it reminded me of when I was in charge of the HUB Division’s Sunshine “Fund” . There is no reason why Little Rhody shouldn’t have one too, so now there is a Little Rhody Sunshine “Fund”. No need to do send any money or do anything, but if any member of your immediate household has suffered an illness, an accident, or other misfortune, or know of a member who has, please let us know so we can send a few rays of virtual “sunshine” their way. We can’t do anything if we don’t know about it, so please let us know at mtylick@hotmail.com and we will see what we can do. Thank you, Mike Tylick DOWNSIZED DELIGHTS: Exploring the World of Model Trains Discover personal tips, knowledge, and experiences of fellow members FUTURE EVENTS December 13th: United Methodist Church in East Greenwich. Holiday Party, Santa Swap, Potluck Lunch etc. January 3rd: The January meeting will be held at the church and not the Botanical Center (too much noise and distraction to hold a meeting). Steve Erickson will conduct a hands-on/make-and-take clinic on building paper structures based on a clinic several of us attended at last September’s Concord convention. Future Meeting Dates: 2/7, 3/7, 4/11, 5/2 The Annual Meeting will be on June 20th, 2026 * Contact David Kiley (kileys@juno.com) or Tom Emmett (teagmrr@runbox.com) if you have any suggestions for future events, or if you would like to provide a virtual tour of your model railroad. LITTLE RHODY DIVISION "PAGE" Please take some time to visit the Little Rhody Division Facebook Page and newly created Little Rhody Division Group. Events will be posted to the FB Page. While there, “Like” the page so you will receive our posts. https://www.facebook.com/LittleRhodyDivision LITTLE RHODY MEMBERS "GROUP" It is my intention that this Group be used for discussions on model railroading topics between members of the Little Rhody Division and their acquaintances. As a member, you are able to share photos and other media. This is a private group and you must request to “Join” to be able to participate. Join us and start a conversation. https://www.facebook.com/groups/LRDGroup LITTLE RHODY T-TRAK "GROUP" This group was started by David Dekonski in 2016 for communications between Little Rhody members interested in T-TRAK. This, too, is a private group you must request to "Join". www.facebook.com/groups/1557631501142025/ YouTube Little Rhody Division has a YouTube channel where recordings of our monthly events are available for viewing. No new videos were added this month. Contact me, Linda Bergemann, if you have any questions As always, please contact me with any questions or issues. If I don’t know the answer, I will pass it to someone who can. Also, if you have any suggestions for future events, please let me know. Stay well, Steve Ryder 401-218-3167 stever47@verizon.net Newsletter Editor Little Rhody Division NMRA (fb)

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