History of the Club
and
The Club House
History of the Club
and
The Club House
History of the Club
The Central New York Model Railroad Club was formed in the early 1970's. After purchasing the station, work quickly began on the first layout. The first layout occupied only a small portion of the building and plans were soon made for a larger layout.
Small portions of the original layout were saved and can still be seen today in such areas as the Kingston engine facilities.
In 1997 the wiring began failing at an alarming rate making operation of the layout all but impossible. Most of the failures were linked to corroded copper, 20+ year old solder joints, and the wild temperature changes the layout had been exposed to for years. To make matters worse, there was little to no documentation for the hundreds of block circuits and home-built throttles that make the layout function.
As of today, all of the old wiring has been removed and the new wiring is installed and working. New control panels have been installed in Grand Gorge, Otisco Valley, and Wolcott Bay. Most ambitious of all was the construction of a new CTC panel located in the adjoining room. The panel is in an elevated structure allowing the CTC operator to view most of the railroad.
While some members rewired the layout, other members were busy fixing and relaying new rail, and painting the ceiling and the walls. Other members were hanging all new lighting. Another group was installing a new furnace and ductwork to finally eliminate those wild temperature changes. With most of these projects complete or in their final stages, the club has resumed regular Friday night operating sessions (1st Friday of each month, visiting engineers welcome). Our focus is shifting to scenery and operation now that the bugs are worked out.
We are nearing completion of some major renovations of our clubhouse. Over the winter we were able to convert our heating system from an old fuel oil furnace to a new high efficiency natural gas furnace, allowing us to keep heat in the building at all times. The ceiling and walls were completely repainted, and the old fluorescent lighting in the layout room was completely replaced with new higher efficiency models. The layout is in the final stages of being completely rewired and close to being operated to full potential again.
Memorial Day Open House - 2002
We would like to thank everyone that attended our Memorial Day open house. It was fun to see a passenger train stop at our old rail station once again I've included a few photos of the excursion train below
The excursion train approaches the crossing
The train approaches the station - it was a sight to see.
We improved the viewing area near Kingston and the S curve, thanks to Jack and Will. Will has been working on the scenery in the bend area. Brian has done a complete remake of the gorge outside Norwich. Carl is putting the finishing touches on the local control panel for Skaneateles Junction. That will give us a very nice operational interchange and all the possibilities which that will create on operating night. Oneonta has a new control panel courtesy of Jack and a little help from Ken. Also Ken has resumed work on the Kingston project. The mainline and Big Indian sidings are fully operational at this time. Leo has done a beautiful job on the Cortland siding and town, also some of the north end of Kingston. Cortland still needs to get wired and have turnout controls added but that is coming soon.
